#leaning towards Andy being the wife

[cevansbrat0007]

There is a trend on some social media where the wife/Gf gives her man a full plate and only her self a little saying that is all that was left. How would Andy and Ari act in that situation?

What's Eating You, Mr. Levinson?

Summary: You decide to test your man's patience with a prank you saw on TikTok. CLICK HERE to read Andrew Barber's reaction to the same prompt.

Warnings: Mature Themes, References to Smut, Ari Being A Menace, Brat!Reader, TikTok Hijinks, Brief Mention of Calorie Counting, Bickering, Manhandling, Threats of Spanking/Punishment, Discussion of a Sex Tape, Cursing, Minors DNI

A/N: Prompt brought to you courtesy of a Reader Request. This fic features Ari Levinson from my Sweet Renegade Series. Semi-proofread, not beta'd. All mistakes are my own. Likes, comments, and reblogs are always appreciated. Thanks for reading!

You weren’t quite sure what possessed you to do this. If anybody asked, you would claim temporary insanity. But right now you were about to get up to some mischief. 

“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.” You mutter under your breath as you adjust the position of the camera you hid tucked away behind a plant. Pleased with the angle, you make a mental note to revisit the world of Harry Potter sooner rather than later. 

It was officially time for a reread. 

Tonight you were gonna play a little joke on your bounty hunter boyfriend. One that you’d come across the other day after accidentally straying from the wonderful world of BookTok. You just hoped he would find it as amusing as you did. In fact, you were certain that he would.

Eventually.   

Hands on your hips, you do an about-face and traipse back into the kitchen to get started on dinner. On tonight’s menu was a Tuscan pork roast, complete with red wine mushrooms and Haricots Verts – also known as French Green Beans. And for dessert, you’d decided to whip up your man’s favorite: key lime pie 

So, even if he got pissed at you later, you were confident you had something that would soothe his ruffled feathers. 

Fingers crossed.

Later that Evening…

The heady thrum of excitement hits you the moment you hear the open and shut of your front door. Having anticipated his arrival, you’d even thrown on a new dress and cued up a little music. While it wasn’t your usual style, you knew without a doubt that Ari would appreciate your efforts. 

“Bird?” 

The sound of your nickname has a smile forming on your lips before you even realize it. Smoothing your hands over your skirt, you make your way towards your mudroom, eager to greet your handsome bounty hunter. 

His eyes light up the moment he sees you. He stands there for a moment, drinking in the sight you clad in your new black dress and wedge heels. 

“Well, get a look at you.” He breathes, allowing his bag to drop at his feet next to his forgotten boots.

“You like?” Biting your lip, you give into temptation and do a little spin. 

Confidence blooms when you hear his appreciative whistle. But that’s nowhere near enough for your man. Because now that you’d gone and given him a show, he wanted more. 

“Oh baby, I love.” 

Pulling you into his arms, his mouth quickly descends upon your own. His tongue wastes no time finding yours, exploring every inch, every corner of your mouth. He lets you know without words that he’s so unbelievably happy to be home holding you like this. 

You cling to him, your hands roving beneath the soft fabric of his t-shirt to run along the sculpted plane of his back. When he finally lets you up for air it’s so he can nuzzle his nose in the crook of your neck, inhaling your sweet, unique scent.    

“You’re beautiful.” He rasps, pecking your lips once more, his large hands come up to frame your face. “So beautiful. Can’t wait to take this dress off you later, see what you might be hiding underneath.”

“All in good time, Beast.” Your lashes flutter closed as you lean into his touch. “All in good time.”

“What if I don’t wanna wait?” His husky growl rumbles from somewhere deep in his chest as he fiddles the material of your skirt. 

“Well, you’re gonna.” Comes your cheeky response. “So go on and wash up for supper. We’re having something yummy.” You bat as his hands, intending to shoo him up the stairs.

The look that flashes across your man’s face makes it clear that he’d much rather have you for dinner instead. He boxes you in, slowly crowding you with his much larger frame as he backs you against a nearby wall. 

However, you refuse to let yourself be swayed.

“I mean it, mister.” You repeat, poking him in the chest. “Now, be a good boy and go wash up.” Ari’s eyes darken at your words. His head dips without warning as he bites your finger, sucking the digit into his mouth, making you gasp. 

“Alright, Duchess. Have it your way.” He growls once he finally deigns to release you. “You’d best be ready for me when I get back.” With that, he gives you his back as he strides off in the direction of the stairs.

“I ain’t scared of you.” You tell his retreating form, waiting until you hear his heavy footfalls sounding on the floor above you. Only then do you move, intending to finish setting up for dinner. 

‘Alright, sugar.’ You think, taking a second to fluff your curls. ‘Time to earn yourself an Oscar.’ 

Fifteen Minutes Later…

You’ve just finished hiding away what’s left of your meal when you hear Ari make his way into your tiny dining room.

“Have a seat, Beast!” You call out, hoping that the act you were about to put on was at least mildly convincing. “I–I’ll be right in.”

Blowing out a breath you snag your bounty hunter’s plate, along with a glass of wine, and head into the next room. Although he admittedly wasn’t much of a wine drinker before he met you, he tended to enjoy whatever selection you paired with your meal. 

Tonight you’d picked a lovely pinot noir.       

This time when you see him, you’re treated to the sight of a freshly showered Ari lazily sprawled in one of your slightly too small chairs. His still damp hair is pushed back off his face as he waits for you, patiently biding his time while he plans his next move.

Or so you assumed, anyway.

“Here you are.” You sing as you approach. “Tonight I bring you an expertly roasted Tuscan pork loin, complete with a garlic and mushroom risotto and french-style green beans.”

“Smells good, baby.” He absentmindedly scratches at his jaw while he surveys the mountain of food on his plate. 

“Hopefully it tastes good too.” You lean down to press a quick kiss against his temple. “I’ll, uh, be right back with mine.” The handsome brute smacks your ass when you turn to depart, making you yip.      

“Hurry back.” He grunts, letting out a chuckle when he sees you trying to rub the sting out of your butt.

Seconds later you return with your food before quietly taking a seat at the table, all the while refusing to make eye contact. Picking up your napkin, you make a show of draping it across your knee, and then…

You wait. 

It doesn’t take long for Ari to notice the differences between your respective plates, and it takes even less time for him to speak on it – much to your internal satisfaction.

“What the–?” Ari pushes his plate aside so that he can get a better look at your virtually empty one. “Where the hell’s the rest of your food, baby?” His deep voice comes out deceptively soft.  

“Huh?” You cast him a sheepish glance, feigning embarrassment. “Oh this? It’s fine.”

“That’s not what I asked, Bird.” The quiet steel in his voice is impossible to miss.

“I know it wasn’t. But this was all that was left, so…” You trail off, averting your gaze in favor of using your fork to push food around your plate. “It’s fine.”

“There’s that damn word again.” You hear him grumble under his breath, his nostrils flaring in frustration. “I got news for you, Bird. It ain’t fine.” He grouses, reaching for you even as you shift away.

“But it is.” You sing, daintily fanning yourself with a napkin. 

“No it isn’t.” He sings right back, clearly not understanding your game. Which was a good thing. It meant that you two could play a little longer.  

“Look, if this is about you feeling like you need to start counting calories again…” Ari goes to rest his elbows on the table, his own meal all but forgotten. “Then please believe me when I tell you that you look phenomenal. And not just tonight, baby. I mean every night.”

You feel your cheeks heat as your body responds to his praise. That familiar warmth soon spreads, pooling in your belly while you mentally preen at his words.  

“Thank you, Ari.” 

“Oh don’t thank me, sweet girl.” His already husky voice dips another octave. “I just want you to eat.” You stifle a small shiver when the roughened pads of his fingertips lightly graze over your hand. “Now, do me a kindness and take your pretty little self back into that kitchen and fix yourself a proper plate.” 

And there it was. He thought you were lying about there not being any leftovers. He was right, of course. Just not the way he thought he was. 

“I would if I could, sugar.” You stretch out your legs beneath the table as you prepare to really sell the narrative. “Honest. But there really isn’t anything left. I…accidentally only bought one pork loin instead of two. And then I misjudged the recipe for the risotto, but that was most likely on account of the fact that I was in my feelings about the state of Herb & Twine’s green beans selection. It wasn’t very good.”

Ari doesn’t tell you this, but he’s actually impressed by your ability to speak that fast without so much as taking a breath. Instead all you receive is a gruff “uh huh” for your trouble.  

“So,” You forge on, now fully committed to the bit. “I salvaged what I could out of the meal I planned and then gave most of it to you.”

“Why?” 

Boy, he did not look happy. Which was great news for you

“Because…” You draw out the word, wincing when you belatedly notice the sudden tick in his jaw. “I just…felt like you shouldn’t have to suffer for my mistakes.”

“Oh.” He hums, pursing his lips as he mulls over your story. “Well, I reckon we’ll just have to fix that.”

Unsure of what he means, you open your mouth to keep talking, only to let out a shriek when Ari suddenly reaches over to grip the back of your chair to drag you, and it, over closer to him.  

“Christ, Beast!” Your hand flies to your still-heaving chest as you will your heartbeat to calm down. 

But your man’s not done yet. 

You scarcely have time to catch your breath before you’re hauled into his lap. Immediately your arms go to weave themselves around his neck to keep you from falling. Not that Ari would’ve ever allowed that to happen.

Seemingly unbothered by your rather dramatic response, Ari seeks to balance you on top of his muscled thighs as he leans over again to retrieve your plate. You watch in confusion as he unceremoniously dumps the contents onto his own dish before setting yours aside once more. 

“Hate to break it to you, Duchess.” He seamlessly adjusts your positions so that he can grasp his knife and fork. “But I don’t need all this food. So it looks like we’ll just have to share.” 

Momentarily stunned by this turn of events you can only nod as he feeds you a tender bite of pork. It takes a moment for you to find your voice, but when you finally do, it’s to utter two simple words. 

“Ari, wait.” 

“‘Fraid I’m not really in the mood to wait.” Your impatient bounty hunter warns. But he does pause his efforts, his fork hovering mere centimeters from your mouth. “You’re nuts if you think I’m the kinda man who would even consider stuffing himself while his lady sits by and starves.”

“I know.” You assure him before rearranging your body so that you’re facing him, your thighs  now straddling his hips. “And I think that’s awfully sweet.”

“Great. So how about you –”

“But since this is a prank…” The grin you’re sporting threatens to split your face in two. “It looks like you get to keep your food.”

Ari blinks back at you, his mouth briefly opening and closing in a way that very much reminds you of a fish. You feel positively giddy as you press your hands on either side of his bearded face so you can plant a kiss on his full lips while he tries, and fails, to make sense of what you just said. 

“Run that by me one more time.” His quiet snarl is enough to have you soaking your panties.

“I saw this thing on TikTok, where these women all decided to prank their boyfriends by serving them this big ol’ plate of food, while pretending to give themselves only a little bit and claiming that was all that was leftover. They filmed their reactions and posted ‘em for everyone else to see.”

“What the hell is a fuckin’ TikTok?” 

“It’s this app where you…” You pause as you try to find the right words. “Where people can, um–”

“Post dumb shit?” He quirks a tawny brow as he tries to remain serious, even though you’re also pretty sure that you just saw his lips twitch. “Come up with new and inventive ways to torture the men that love them?”

“I mean, that’s not all it is.” You take a moment to whisper kisses along his chiseled jaw. “But I guess that’s a pretty accurate description.”

“Hmph.” Your grumpy bounty hunter continues to glower at you, even as his large, warm hands move to settle on your hips. “And am I right to assume you’re recording this?”

“Maybe…” You giggle, not bothering to hide just how funny you found this all to be. “Oh – but I was never gonna post it. Promise.” 

You hold up your pinky, trying your hardest to look solemn. But the look Ari gives you lets you know that he’s done falling for your act. 

“I’m warning you, Duchess.” He grunts, lightly bouncing you on his lap. “I swear to God, if I catch myself on that fuckin’ tock clock…thing…you have my word that I’m gonna redden that ass.”

“I already told you I wasn’t gonna.” You reassure him once more, resting your forehead against his. “By the way, thanks for bein’ such a good sport about the whole thing.”

“No problem.” He flashes you a feral grin, revealing his pearly white teeth. It shoots straight to your core. “But the way I see it, you kinda owe me one. Don’t you?” He leans in close as his hands begin gently kneading your curves. 

“Um…I don’t think–” You let out a soft whimper when he drags his nose along the delicate column of your throat.

“Oh, but I do.” He nips at your jaw. 

“I suppose that’s fair.” 

“Trust me, it is.” His sensual growl has you practically shivering with need. “Which is why you’re gonna show me where you hid that camera.” His lust-filled gaze drops to your cleavage as he openly begins undressing you with his eyes.

“Now hold on a minute, Beast –” You stammer once realization dawns. 

“Aw, don’t fret.” Ari’s rueful chuckle lets you know that you will never win this battle. “You’ll have your turn to direct our little movie.” Ari suddenly stands without warning so that he can gently deposit you back in your own chair. “Especially now that I know how much you love performing for the camera.

Oh, the man had you there. Sometimes your Beast was a bit too cunning for your liking. 

“I don’t think–” You try again, now feeling shy. “What we do in the dark has no business being on film!”

“Hm, guess we’ll just have to keep the lights on. But for now, let’s get you fed.” He drops a kiss on your head before picking up your empty dish and sauntering off towards the kitchen. “We’ll talk lighting and camera angles once you’re finished.” 

Good Lord on high. What had you just gotten yourself into?

“Here we are.” Ari continues upon his return a few minutes later. He sets your down in front of you before taking your napkin and redraping it across your lap. “But I’d eat fast if I were you.”

“Um…why?” You ask, eyeing him warily. 

“Because.” He winks at you before taking a seat and enthusiastically spearing a piece of meat onto his fork. “Tonight’s dress rehearsal starts in thirty minutes.”

END

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[kelcemenow]

Missing.

Pairing Travis Kelce x Reader

Words 4640

Warnings Strong language, angst, smut, fluff. It's also really long and my proof-reading wasn't the best for this one!

I'm back to requests! This Anon has been waiting a long time which I'm so sorry for but I wanted to get As The Snow Falls finished first...I'm not good with having multiple stories going at once! "I have a new request angst to fluff - Travis x reader - Reader feels far from Travis due to practice and games she has been doing her best being there for him but something is falling after a game Travis accidentally takes out his anger on the reader that ends on a big relationship argument leading the reader to go out and stay with a friend for two nights having no contact with Travis making him realize he had to do something to prevent leaving the love of his life, and the have a happy ending I’ll let you continue with what you want"

The door slammed with force as you carefully poured the deep, ruby red coloured liquid from the bottle into the glass positioned in front of you. You turned your chin over your shoulder to look towards the living room to see Travis dropping his practice bag by the front door and charging towards the staircase.

You clenched your jaw and stared down at the perfectly cooked steak you had prepared along with roasted vegetables and a velvety blue cheese sauce. Travis had been distant for a few weeks, spending much of his time at practices and games. Even when he arrived home from his time at Arrowhead, he was quiet and irritable.

You were a few months into your whirlwind relationship and you weren't prepared for the stress of the football season. After all, this was a new environment for you. The late nights, the time away from each other, the media.

Pushing your chair away from you, you stood up from the dining table and quietly made your way up to your bedroom. Travis was changing out of his clothes, the steam from the running shower pouring out of the en-suite bathroom.

"Did you not shower after practice?" You said as you leaned against the doorframe.

Travis lifted his personalised Kansas City Chiefs t-shirt over his head, "Yeah. I need another one." His voice was monotonous and stern.

You looked down at your feet, "I made you dinner. I thought it would be nice to have a night in with a movie or something too?"

"I'm not hungry."

You swallowed hard, a lump forming in your throat, "And the movie?"

"I have games to watch." Travis pulled his sweatpants from his legs followed by his briefs.

You couldn't help but to let your eyes linger on his bare ass. His body was in peak condition due to the season starting, his firm muscles tight and strong.

"Is everything okay, Trav?" You asked with a shaky breath.

He rubbed his eyes with one hand, clutching at his discarded clothes with the other, tossing them into the laundry hamper, "I'm tired, okay? I don't need this."

You took a small step backwards and watched as he disappeared into the adjoining bathroom, his head still in his hands. You waited for a few seconds, hoping that he would run out of the room and towards you, profusely apologising for being short with you, holding you in his arms and laying kisses all over your face exactly like he used to. But he didn't.

You made your way back to the dining room, silently reminiscing of the early days in your relationship. You had met by chance through his coach Andy Reid. Your Mom was an old friend of his wife Tammy and when you were picking your Mom up after visiting her, Travis stopped by. Tammy was all too pleased to introduce you both, her and your Mom standing in the doorway and watching the flirting between you. Travis reached out to you a couple of days later.

"Hey Y/N, it's Travis from the other day. Cancel any plans you have for tonight for tonight because I'm taking you out."

You were taken aback by his forward approach, but flattered that the superstar athlete was paying you his attention.

"And what if I say no?"

Your love life had been historically dull. You'd been on dates and had a few short-term relationships but nothing seemed to stick. You either lost interest or the initial spark naturally fizzled out.

"I'll pick you up at 8."

Your first date was different from any other you'd had before. Travis had taken you axe throwing in the city and you had had an incredible time. Your eyes drifted to the fireplace. Positioned on the mantle was a framed photograph of that night. Travis' arm was hooked around the back of your neck and you were looking up at him with glassy eyes as he took a selfie of the two of you, his wide smile stretching from ear to ear.

You picked up the plates and with a long exhale of breath, deposited the food into the trash. Tears formed in your eyes as you clung to the countertop, your chest heaving with heavy sobs.

______________________________________________________________

"And he hasn't even apologised yet?"

"No, he's gone to practice. He left before I even woke up." Your hands were fidgeting with the sleeve of your sweatshirt as you sat on the couch.

Your best friend Amber had called you to double check your lunch plans and the conversation had drifted to your relationship woes.

"Maybe I went into this too quickly?"

You heard Amber sigh down the phone, "But that's not a reason as to why he's acting like a huge dick."

"I know, I know." You laughed under your breath, "He has a game at Arrowhead tomorrow."

"Are you gonna go?"

You paused for a moment. You had been to every single one of Travis' home games so far and a couple of the away ones. By not going, you were worried you would cause more tension.

"I think so." You said.

"I could come with you if you want?"

You smiled, "That would be awesome. Really, thank you."

"Don't mention it. I need some girl time, even if it is watching football. I'll get Chase to watch the boys. Just let me know what time to meet you and I'll be there." You heard some quiet commotion in the background, "Hunter, leave that alone. Sorry babe but I gotta go."

"Go, I'll text you later."

"Bye honey!"

Your arm dropped onto the sofa, your cell phone still clutched in your palm. The house felt empty and even though you were the only one there, it still some how felt empty when Travis was home. The rooms used to be full of laughter and noise, music playing or effervescent conversation. Lately, it was cold and tense. Something was missing.

You spent the rest of the day trying to let time pass quickly. You worked out for an hour, cleaned the kitchen and took a shower. It wasn't until later when you were loading the machine with laundry that you thought about Travis again. As you picked up his t-shirt from the night before, his warm scent drifted past your nose. You instantly felt melancholic, almost drained. Your daze was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening and closing. You dropped Travis' t-shirt in with the rest of the laundry and stood up from the floor before setting the machine away. You could hear Travis' footsteps around the house, moving from room to room, presumably looking for you.

"I'm here, baby." You called out.

As you stepped into the kitchen, Travis appeared suddenly in front you.

You jumped back slightly, a slight scream escaping your mouth, "Oh! Travis! You scared the shit out of me!"

He looked red faced and sweaty, "I came back from practice early."

Your eyebrows furrowed, "You left early? Why?"

"I felt bad about last night. I..." He looked down as his voice trailed off, "I got you these."

He sheepishly produced a beautiful bouquet of red roses from behind his back.

"Travis! These are gorgeous!"

He took a hold of your hand, "Baby, I'm so sorry. I know I've been in my head a bit these past couple of weeks."

You stared up into his pale, glossed eyes, "Well, next time you get stuck in my head. Talk to me, okay?"

"I love you." He whispered.

You smiled, "More and and more, everyday babe."

His eyes creased into a grin, relief filling his face. He enveloped you into a tight hug, burying his face into the crook of your neck. Your fingers grazed the back of his neck as his lips began laying gentle kisses onto your skin. You relaxed into his hold, feeling safe and content that you had him back again. His kisses trailed towards your mouth that you gladly accepted, allowing his tongue to explore yours. You pulled away quickly so that you were able to take a gasp of air and Travis' hands grabbed onto your ass, your legs wrapping around his waist. He carefully carried you over to the countertop and gently placed you onto it. His eyes darted to your core, your shorts riding up dangerously high. There was almost a darkness that flashed across his face which only caused you to ache and yearn more for him.

He lunged towards you, taking your face in his hands and pressing his mouth onto yours. Your heads dipped and weaved in a perfect rhythm with each other as the kiss deepened further. You held onto the neckline of his shirt, your knuckles turning white. Small moans filled your mouth as the vibrations from Travis' lips forced your hips to grind gently.

"I want you." He whispered.

You removed your t-shirt quickly, throwing it across the room, "You have me."

His eyes widened at the sight of your bare breasts, his mouth dropping open a little. He dropped to his knees and dragged his tongue from your ankle and along the inside of your thigh, reaching your covered pussy. His fingers played with the fabric as you leaned back slightly, opening your legs further.

"Oh, baby." Travis' voice was low, almost a growl.

Your pussy pulsated as your aching intensified. Travis watched intently as a small wet patch formed on your pale blue shorts, his bottom lip quivering.

"You're so wet already, baby girl."

You reached forward and grabbed at the back of his head, "Just fuck me, Travis."

He jumped up quickly and pulled his sweatpants away from his body, letting them fall around his ankles. He pulled your shorts to the side, not even wasting time in taking them off and wrapped his large hand around his engorged cock. He pumped it a few times before lining himself up with your glistening entrance. Travis' eyes quickly connected with yours before you looked down, watching as he pushed his cock inside of you. Your mouth opened, letting a loud gasp escape into the room.

He filled you perfectly, stretching your walls ever so slightly. His fingers kneaded into your ass as he thrusted roughly, the sounds of wet skin slapping getting louder with each motion. You held him closely to you, feeling his hot breath against your collarbone and listened intently to each grunt and moan from his mouth.

You noticed that Travis' thrusts were starting to slow, every action taking more time than the last.

"Everything okay?" You breathed.

He avoided your gaze, "Yeah. I'm just so close...but I want to last a bit longer for you."

Something tightened in your core, "It's okay baby, just enjoy it. Don't stress."

Travis hissed through his struggle as he gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut, "I want you to come first."

You could feel yourself unravelling, "I'm almost there, keep going."

He looked up at you and nodded, resuming his previous pace, his hips snapping forwards harshly. You screamed loudly through the intense pleasure, your vision blurring. Your skin was sticking to his, caused by the slick layer of sweat that was coating the both of you. Travis' face twisted, his eyebrows pulled in together and his jaw clenched tightly. He huffed through his teeth a few times before your pussy fiercely throbbed, signalling your orgasm. You watched as Travis lowered his head, watching your wetness coat his dick as his thrusts became sloppy and unpredictable.

Your pussy was becoming overstimulated, every movement causing your walls to contract tighter. Your head fell forward slightly and your mouth made contact with Travis' shoulder, your teeth sinking into his flesh.

Travis cried out, a mixture of pain and pleasure. His hips gave a couple more hard jolts before his whole body became tense, his eyes widened and a breathy moan rang in your ear.

You both caught your breath for a few seconds before Travis lay gentle kisses on your collarbone, his mouth humming in contentment. He leaned away slightly to reach for some kitchen towel, handing some to you before he carefully pulled his dick out, cum seeping from your folds.

"I can run you a bath?" He asked.

You purred in agreement, letting him help you to hop down from the countertop and hand you your shirt. Your heart fluttered as you looked at your hand in his, which looked tiny in comparison. It was as if the last couple of weeks hadn't even happened. You had your Travis back.

______________________________________________________________

Your fingers tapped at your phone screen.

"Want me to wait for you outside the locker room? X"

Amber was standing next to you, her eyes scanning the emptying field, "It was still a good game, right?"

You turned to her, your eyebrows lowered, "That won't matter. He missed 3 touchdowns, got 2 personal fowls and he gave away an interception. They may have won by a couple of points, but something is off with Travis."

"But you said everything was okay now?"

You shoved your hands into your coat pockets, "Yeah, I mean last night he apologised and we talked and spent time together...and we had the most amazing sex."

Amber beamed at you, "Well then, that's a good sign?"

"I suppose so. I just hope he isn't beating himself up too much." You felt your cell phone vibrate against your fingers. Pulling it out of your pocket, you read the reply from Travis.

"No, it's fine. I gotta deal with some stuff here. You go home."

"On the other hand, he might just go back to miserable Travis." You said, disappointed.

Amber craned her neck to see the phone screen. She took a couple of seconds to see the messages before she shook her head, "Girl, just go and see him. He clearly needs his woman to console him."

"You saw what he said. He has some stuff to figure out. I don't wanna push his boundaries." You pulled your Chiefs knit hat down a little further, "I'll just meet him at home."

Amber sucked the air through her teeth, "Okay, if you think that's the right thing to do?"

You began to shuffle out of the viewing box, crowds of people filing out into the parking lot. The air outside was cold, bitter against your cheeks and as you walked around the side of the stadium, you noticed someone rushing out of a side door. You squinted your eyes, trying hard to focus on the figure when you heart dropped to your stomach.

"Is that Travis?" Amber said, her finger pointing forwards.

You squinted harder, watching as your boyfriend pulled his hood up and jumped into his car, speeding away down the road.

Amber continued, "Where is he going?"

"I...I don't know."

"Maybe he's changed his mind and he's going to meet you at home?"

You swallowed hard, "Then why didn't he call me to tell me that?"

There was a moment of silence before Amber grabbed onto your arm, "Maybe he wanted to surprise you? Maybe he's gone to get you some more roses...or dinner...or something?"

"Maybe." You said quietly.

You couldn't shake the worrying feeling that was lying in the pit of your stomach. You felt as though the hotdog and soda that you had consumed during the game was going to make another appearance.

"I'd better shoot off. Chase is probably tearing his hair out with the boys." She squeezed your hand, "Not that he's a terrible Father. He's great! But when you've got two, it's hard, you know? One starts climbing on the furniture and the other is pulling the trash from the bin."

"Amber." You placed your other hand over hers, "I know you're trying to ease the awkward atmosphere...and I really appreciate it. But I think I just want to go home."

She gave you a sincere smile, pulling you closer for a hug before heading to her own car and leaving you stood in the parking lot. Swarms of people were filtering past you as you tried to figure out what Travis was doing. You closed your eyes after a few moments and shook your head, desperate not to let your brain spiral to exaggerated thoughts that you wanted to avoid.

The drive home was difficult to say the least. It was almost as if every radio station knew of your struggle, continuously playing songs detailing heartbreak, cheating, lies and broken relationship. After the fourth or fifth try, you gave up, turning the radio off with loud sigh.

Confusion set in when you pulled into the driveway and Travis' car was nowhere in sight. You turned your engine off, wondering where he could be. He had left before you and before most of the traffic, meaning he would've made it home earlier. Unless he had come home and gone back out.

The house was quiet, just as you'd left it, only furthering your confusion. You pulled your phone out of your bag, tapping the screen.

"Where are you? I'm home and you're not here?"

Sitting down on the sofa, you turned on the television, hoping for a distraction but you barely had time to focus on the screen when your eyes began to droop. Your skin tingled as your muscles completely relaxed before you drifted off to sleep.

______________________________________________________________

Your eyes fluttered open as the lights of a car shone into the darkened room. Your hand felt around for the television remote, turning it off and reaching for the lamp. Rubbing your eyes, you grabbed your phone to check the time.

01.30.

Your chest tightened quickly. You heard the sound of keys jiggling in the front door before it opened and Travis walked in, his game bag in his hand.

"Where have you been?" You said, coldly.

Travis looked at you with no hint of an expression, "I just needed to sort some things out."

"At Arrowhead?" You pressed.

"Yeah."

"So, why did I see you get into your car immediately after the game?"

He avoided your gaze, choosing to walk towards the kitchen and placing his bag onto the floor.

"Travis?" You asked, your voice getting louder.

"What?" He snapped as he returned into the room.

Standing up from the sofa, you could feel the anger building inside of you, "Is this why you've been weird lately? Barely speaking to me, barely spending any time with me?"

Travis' eyes burned into you from across the room, "What are you getting at?"

"Are you fucking someone else?"

He said nothing. Instead, he looked down at the floor and started laughing under his breath.

A red mist descended over you, "Travis. Answer me!"

"This is ridiculous."

"Okay. So, now I'm being ridiculous."

Travis slammed his keys onto the cabinet next to him, "Don't you dare put words in my mouth. I didn't say you were being ridiculous, but right now, you fucking are. I fucked up tonight."

Your eyebrows knitted together, "What do you mean?"

"I fucked up the game! I don't know if you were paying attention out there but I sucked. Big time. Pat is mad at me, Coach is made at me, I let the whole team down."

"But, you won?"

"That's not the fucking point!" He yelled, his face flashing red, "I don't know where my head is right now. And you're not helping!"

You stepped back slightly, "I'm not helping? All I've been trying to do is help! But you won't let me. You don't want me to."

The room was silent. It was eerie and tense.

You cleared your throat, shifting the large lump that had formed, "So, you know what? I'll just go."

Travis watched as you disappeared up the staircase, "Babe. No, I didn't mean that."

You slammed the bedroom door, grabbing a few essentials that you needed, trying desperately to hold back the flood of tears that you knew were imminent. You typed furiously on your phone, sending a message to someone who you knew could help you. You heard Travis move into his office downstairs and took the opportunity to leave while you could. You didn't want to see him and you certainly didn't want another argument, so you disappeared out of the front door, grabbing your car keys on the way.

Rain was pouring from the dark clouds above you, soaking your body almost immediately. With a press of a button, your car headlights lit up the front of the house. Taking shelter in the car, the sound of the raindrops hitting against the windscreen rang loudly in your ears. As soon as you pulled out of the driveway, you internal dam burst. You blinked the tears away as fast as you could but it was no use, the mixture of the rain covered windscreen and your bleary eyes made it hard for you to see the road ahead. Luckily, you knew exactly where you were going and it wasn't far away. You ignored your cell phone that had been ringing non-stop since you had left the house and continued down the road that you knew all too well.

Once you had arrived, you quietly knocked on the door, wiping your wet eyes with your sweatshirt sleeve. It opened almost immediately and Amber emerged from the house with open arms and a sympathetic smile.

"Honey, come in."

______________________________________________________________

You felt numb. You felt empty. You felt like something was definitely missing now.

For the last couple of days or so, Amber had been an incredible friend, giving you space and bringing you cups of hot tea almost every hour. But the one thing she kept doing, was talking about Travis.

"Maybe you should call him?" She said to a pile of blankets that were strewn on the bed.

"I don't want to call him." You said from underneath.

She started to peel the layers back, "He's called you about 60 times...which you would know if you looked at your cell."

"I just said, I don't want to call him."

"I know, I know. But he's called me a few times and he just sounds do upset."

You pushed the blankets away from your face, "You spoke to him?"

Amber tipped her head to one side, "Yeah. I didn't plan on it, I swear. But he wasn't giving up and I just thought someone should at least hear what he has to say."

You brought your hand up to your face, your teeth clamping down on your nails.

"Maybe we should go for a walk? Get you some fresh air?"

You stared up at her for a few seconds.

"You know, it'll be good for you? It'll be amazing how much better you'll feel once you're up and about. We could go and grab a coffee and head over to the-"

"Alright, alright." You rolled your eyes, "If I say yes, will you shut up?"

Amber beamed back at you, "Yes, I will!"

______________________________________________________________

It was a crisp morning, the cool air whipping around your face. The small park nearby to Amber's house was calm, with brown leaves dusted all over the grass. The pathways were lined with swaying trees and even though you hated to admit it, you did feel better.

Your takeaway coffee cup was warming your hands and the hot liquid tingled on your tongue. Amber held up to her promise and said very little, allowing you to clear your head and enjoy the walk.

Pouring the last of your coffee into your mouth, you scanned the area for a nearby trash can. You spotted one next to a small bench and as you approached it, you noticed a letter resting on the wooden panels. Furrowing your brows, you leaned in closer to see what was written on the front of the envelope.

‘Y/N’

You spun around to see Amber holding her hands to her face. She quickly shuffled towards you and took the empty cup from you, throwing it into the trashcan. She held you by your shoulders and looked at you with anticipation and a slight hint of guilt.

"Don't hate me, okay?"

Leaning down, she picked up the letter and handed it to you, taking a couple of steps back.

Your fingers gently caressed the cream envelope for a moment. You took a deep breath and opened it, immediately seeing Travis' handwriting covering the white paper.

"Read it out loud." Amber said, excitement in her voice.

You shot her a look before staring down at the letter in your hands. "My Y/N. My whole life I have had to be part of a team. Countless times I have taken on the responsibility of making sure my team are rock solid, focused and have each others backs. But I realise now that I have neglected the most important team of all. Our team. Me and you."

A small lump formed in your throat as you read the words.

"I know I have been distant these past couple of weeks, I have closed myself off from you when I should have been honest and told you the truth."

You could feel your heart thumping harder and harder.

"I guess I was scared, worried. But I've realised that our team, me and you, mean more to me than I first thought. When I met you, you changed me. You make me a better person and I cannot thank you enough for that. I feel so grateful that I have you in my life and I want to spend every second that I can with you."

Your hands began to tremble.

"I am so sorry that I ever made you feel the way you did. I should be the one protecting you from hurt and disappointment, and I have let you down. I have been a mess without you. Without your singing when you're in the shower. Without your delicious baking. Without the smell of your perfume around the house. Something has been missing these past couple of days and I want it back. If you can ever forgive me, please believe me when I say that I am sorry and I love you."

"More and more, everyday babe."

You whipped your head around to see Travis standing with his hands burrowed into his pockets. He looked pale and tired.

"Travis?" You breathed.

He shook his head, staring into your eyes intently, "That night, when I came home late, I was visiting your parents."

"My parents?"

"Yeah. Man, your Dad is chatty. That's why I was so late."

Your face twisted with confusion, "Then why didn't you just tell me?"

"Because I wanted it to be a surprise."

You watched as Travis lowered himself down onto one knee, pulling his hands from his pockets and presenting a small velvet box. Amber squealed with excitement and your jaw dropped open in shock.

"I've never loved anyone the way I love you. And that scared me, but it shouldn't have. You are so perfect for me and I want to spend my life with you, if you'll have me?"

Moisture built up in your eyes and when you squeezed them shut, tears began falling down your cheeks. You quickly wiped them dry so that you could see when Travis opened the box, a beautiful white gold ring inside, encrusted with diamonds.

"Y/N, will you marry me?"

"Oh my God, yes! Yes!" You cried, bending down to take his face in your hands.

Travis stood up, carefully placing the ring onto your finger. He looked deeply into your eyes as his arms snaked around your waist, holding you closely to him. "I've got my missing piece back."

"And it's all because of me!" Amber sang as she ran towards you both, throwing her arms around you as you laughed, clutching the letter that brought you back.

_____________________________________________________________

I love to imagine that Travis is this romantic. However, I do struggle writing him to be a moody asshole! My requests are still closed until I make a bigger dent into my current list. Which I will get through as quickly as I can. My main problem is, my fics always end up way longer that I intend them to be!

To be included on my Taglist, just give me a shout!

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[andypantsx3]

ANDY U CANT LEAVE US HANGING I NEED MORE DRAGON SHOUTO?,!?.!. please… i think ill die if u dont elaborate WHAT DO U MEAN WE’RE FACE TO FACE WITH HIM… what does he say… what does he DO… i need to know more omfg

Riffing off of @mhathotfic's tags on my original post, which I absolutely loved.

It happens on a cold January evening, just a few months after you've reached your majority.

You escape out into the frosty winter evening to join Shouto, unable to bear your family's increasingly-regular discussions of your marriageability now that you're of age.

Once you dragged home a dragon fledgling, you'd always sort of imagined that the question of your eligibility would be somewhat moot. Not many men wanted a wife who came with little dowry, and even fewer might want one who came with an enormous fire-breathing lizard who barely let her out of his sight.

You thought Shouto would sooner burn down your husband's house than listen to any sounds of discomfort on your wedding night—you didn't think many men would be willing to consummate a union with that threat lingering just beyond the window.

Not that you wanted to be married to any of the village men. Ever since you were little, you'd always had this feeling—a feeling like there was someone out there for you, just out of reach, like they were just a step beyond the next corner. Close, but somehow impossible to catch. So you'd never wanted a husband from the village, and you certainly don't now.

So once the discussion turns towards the topic of your being married yet again over dinner, you excuse yourself, and go out into the night to find Shouto, who is never more than a few hundred meters away.

You find his enormous form easily, his red-and-white patterned scales glittering in the light of a fire he's set, out in the fields you'd found him in as a child, as if he'd somehow anticipated you'd be coming out to him.

He cracks open a fiery blue eye, watching your approach, and lifts a wing as you near him, crowding you between the fire and his warm scales, creating a sort of tent with his wing to keep the heat in, and keep you close to him.

You absently pat his side, sinking down against him, sticking your hands out to the fire.

"They're talking about husbands again," you say, and Shouto cranes his neck around so that he can rest his head across your lap, nearly as large as you are, heavy and warm. You reach out to rest a hand across his snout, petting the glittering scarlet scales there.

You've always known he can understand you, given his reactions to the questions you ask, the way he sometimes watches you with knowing eyes. But how much of what you say to him he truly understands will forever be a mystery, as you'll never be able to ask him.

You think he understands enough, though, to know you're displeased.

"A husband," you repeat in disbelief, scratching over his scales again, listening to the rumble that builds up in his chest almost like a purr. He always likes to be petted, though you get an intentionally blank look from him whenever you dare to bring it up, as though he does not like to be made fun of.

"When they should know you're the only boy for me," you tell him, teasing.

Shouto's eye blinks open again, and you lean back to watch him watching you, something curious in his gaze. You begin to recognize the look for what it usually is—the precedent to some type of mischief—whether that be digging up a garden when he was still the size of a particularly fat cat, to accidentally setting a man's pant leg ablaze when he'd whistled after you, the evening of your sixteenth birthday.

You make a curious noise, and you're just about to ask him what he thinks he's up to when there's a crackle like lightning, and the hot, burning scent of ozone reaches your nose.

There's suddenly a rush of cold air over you, Shouto's massive form gone from around you, and the weight in your lap is suddenly much smaller and lighter.

When you look down, Shouto's head is no longer across your legs. Instead, your gaze meets the perfect pale skin of a very strong, very naked back. You realize belatedly that there is a stranger in your lap, a man with a mop of red-and-white hair, scarlet and snow, who has one warm, muscular arm curled around your waist.

You let out a scream, scrabbling backwards, but the stranger's arm locks around you, and the man's face tips up to yours, blinking curiously.

You freeze, your gaze meeting eerily familiar grey-and-blue eyes, set into the most utterly perfect face you have ever seen. The man's features are careful and exact, the slope of his nose blade-straight, his jawline strong, his mouth pretty and plush and weirdly captivating in the flickering firelight. You cannot help but feel you know him, though you are incredibly certain you have never seen him before.

There would be no forgetting a man as beautiful as this.

"Who the hell are you?" you demand, shock rendering you frozen and dumb.

The man blinks, slow and catlike and so hauntingly recognizable. His eyebrows scrunch, as though something's confused him, and then he speaks, slowly and carefully, as if he's just getting a feel for the shape of words in his mouth.

"I am...Shouto," he says, his voice so deep and smooth. It reminds you so much of the deep, rumbling purr Shouto had just been letting out moments ago—your mouth drops open, disbelieving.

"You're Shouto?" you echo, thrown. Though you're beginning to realize that this devastatingly handsome, distractingly naked man is horribly familiar in hundreds of different ways—from the timbre of his voice to his eyes to his hair to the way his arm suddenly curls even more possessively about your waist, the way Shouto's tail sometimes does to keep you pressed close to him.

And with Shouto the dragon suddenly gone...

"You're my dragon? My Shouto?" you demand.

The man blinks, shifting in your lap so that's he's fully turned towards you. He props up on one hand, his face drawing alarmingly close as his other arm presses you into him. He looks very much as if he likes the sound of that.

"Yes, your Shouto," he purrs, pupils going darker. Your heartbeat suddenly kicks back to life in your chest, stuttering and tripping over itself as his large, hot palm presses proprietarily at the small of your back, as he leans in to bring his mouth close to yours.

"And you..." he says, his tone going rich and smoky and dark, like dragon fire. "You have always been mine."

[hannieehaee]

18+ / mdi

content: bickering, some modern family references (just names n stuff), smut, penetrative sex, f reader, riding, tit play (??) idk he just likes ur tits, etc.

a/n: this is kinda meant to be a modern family au based on haley and andy's first meeting so theres some references to the show (just fyi) except this ends as smut 🫡 can also be read as nanny!seokmin and richbrat!you tho

wc: 1370

masterlist

modern family au where you, ditzy and careless granddaughter of rich business owner, incidentally meet your family's new manny!seokmin while sneaking into your grandfather's house for some alone time by the pool. you grab a few beers, knowing your grandfather and his wife probably wont be back for a while when you hear someone clear their throat behind you. startled, you drop the glass bottles on the floor and turn around to see who the hell is in your supposedly-empty grandfather's house.

you're taken aback as soon as you meet his eyes. pretty boy your age in what's supposed to be a place only your family had access to ? you wont complain, but you're still pretty bummed about the wasted beer.

the first words out of his mouth are to scold you. great. yet another person to get in your way just when you're re trying to relax away from your overbearing family. but wait, you think, you still have no idea who this man is.

"who are you?", you question as he leans over to clean up the bottles you had broken (the bottles he broke, if anyone asked you).

"no. who are you?", he gives as rebuttal. "mr pritchet didnt say anyone would be here today. are you alex or __?" he says, cutely tilting his head to the side like a confused puppy, making your heart melt role your eyes.

"im alex," you lie, knowing your sister wouldnt get in trouble for this anyways. "now my question."

"i'm your grandfather's new manny," he replies with a boyish smile, stretching his free hand towards you.

"you're not manny. i know manny and you look nothing like him," you say frowning, knowing this is totally not your uncle manny.

"oh, you're __. i'm seokmin. the new male nanny," he says in a tone that makes you think he mightve meant it as an insult .. you choose to ignore it, instead looking at his arms as he continues to wipe the broken glass. why hadnt you noticed his arms earlier ?

"i'm sorry, but im gonna have to tell your grandfather that you broke glass near the pool," he interrupts your thoughts as he finishes picking up the broken glass.

fuck. you just got out of being grounded, you cant have your mom know you snuck into your grandpa's house again, specially for day-drinking (you're over 21 now, whats the big issue?!).

you panic, so you go for the first thing that comes to mind.

"do you really have to do that, seokmin?", you flutter your lashes at him, untying the top of your bathing suit cover and pushing up your barely-covered tits for him to see.

he looks down, momentarily forgetting what he was talking about, but quickly looks back up. "thats not gonna work, your grandparents warned me about you," he says as he looks away from your chest.

he already bit the hook. there's really nothing to lose now.

you take slow steps towards him, making sure to sway your hips as you do so, placing your hands on his shoulders as soon as you're close enough. "listen. this can stay between us, right? you've already cleaned everything up. there's no reason we need to waste our time in telling him how you caught me off guard and made me drop the glass, is there?", you rub your hands up and down his chest, slowly unbuttoning his shirt while he stands still, letting you continue your actions.

"m-me?! y-YOU broke it! you're not even supposed to be h-" he cuts himself off when you get tired of his talking and decide to just rip the rest of the buttons off.

"listen to me, seokmin. we can waste the next hour arguing about who did what while we wait for my grandpa to get here," you start pressing your mouth to his ear, almost giving him the attention he really wants, but not fully. "or we could go to the guest room and i could give you a little something in return for your silence. wouldn't that be more fun?"

with one more look from him, you find yourself moments later sitting atop him in one of the mansion's guest rooms, bouncing on top of him with your back facing his chest. his eyes were glued to your ass, with his hands groping your hips tightly as he furrowed his eyebrows in pleasure. never would he have expected that the airheaded girl his new employers warned him about would be this pretty and feel this good wrapped around him.

"fuck," he exhales, rubbing his hands up and down your back, ultimately landing on your ass, melding his hands unto the soft skin. "b-baby fuck. slow down."

"but minnie .. my grandparents could be back any second. besides, you're doing me a favour. it'd be mean of me to not make it up to you, wouldnt it?", you put on a sweet voice for him as you bounce faster, also wanting to reach your high as the pretty boy impaled you.

frustrated at not being able to see you, he uses those beefy arms you were eyeing earlier to lift you up and turn you around on top of him, now looking into your eyes as you held onto his shoulders for support. looking at his pretty eyes staring up at you with softness despite the lewdness of the act made you feel crazy. feeling addicted to the way he looked at you, you decided to give him a show.

"fuck, minnie. feel so fucking good," you moaned, dragging your hands up to your tits to play with them, rubbing your nipples in a way that had you rolling your eyes back. "dont you wanna help me, minnie? be a good boy and put your hands on me."

he whined at your words, sitting up a bit and replacing your hands with his. pinching at your nipples, he made you cry out loud and rub yourself even harder, now catching an angle that allowed your clit to rub against him. feeling drunk on your enthusiasm, he moved one of his hands to your hip in order to guide you, moving his mouth to bite and lick at your nipples, making you roll your eyes back.

both your ends approached, now with you maniacally bouncing on him while his mouth stayed stuck to your chest, alternating breasts to suck and whine into. feeling completely cock drunk, you increased the intensity of your movements, leading yourself into a mind-blowing orgasm with him following soon after, his moans muffled by your chest.

you spent the next five minutes softly cleaning each other up and getting rid of the evidence (dirty sheets, condom, etc) before anyone arrived home, all while shyly exchanging glances at each other. it was unlike you to feel shy when interacting with a guy (i mean, you did just seduce your grandparents new nanny within minutes of knowing him), but there was something about his good-boy attitude and soft demeanor towards you that just drew you to him. that, and how easy on the eyes he was.

your thoughts were promptly interrupted by him quietly speaking up "listen, i know i'm probably overstepping and just embarrassing myself by saying this but, i kind of uh. i kind of felt a connection there. i think you mightve even felt it too? would you like to maybe see where this goes? i could take you out, or if not we could start off as friends too, you know? or maybe this again? wait, no. i'm not suggesting that you should uh- but if you want to! i mean, whatever you want! it's just tha-" he continues to ramble, clearly losing track of what his original question was.

just like him, you interrupt his monologue by grabbing onto his face, making him stop mid sentence and look at you. "yes," you giggle. "we can go out seokmin. i'll know where to find you," and with that, you leave him with a peck and a wink as you exit the room, successfully leaving the house before anyone arrived, knowing you'd be coming back whenever possible to get some alone time with your grandparents' pretty manny you were now planning to make yours.

[crimsonred-hi]

Da, it’s Da

Pairing: Andrew Hozier-Byrne x Reader

Warnings: children. Children are scary.

Summary: in Ireland and the northern parts of England (where I’m from), a child would never call their father ‘daddy’, for the mere thought of ‘Daddy is for gals with issues and gay men with bigger issues’ (which is true). So, I believe Andrew would want to be called ‘Da’ like most other fathers… so yeah, Andrew arguing with his and Reader’s child about what the child should call him.

She walks into the house, after being for the weekly food shopping, and he can here Andrew and Mavis (yes, because you can’t say no to Andrew, and he wanted to name her after Mavis Staples) arguing loudly.

“No, Mavis! I won’t answer to ‘daddy’, I refuse! Just call me ‘Da’ like everyone else!”

He sounds so pained when saying ‘daddy’, he, like most Irish fathers, hate that word, and it’s only made worse from how much the word is used in on the internet.

“No! I want to call you what I want!”

She hear the sound of her baby’s voice, with an Irish accent she gained from her father, yelling back at him.

Y/n slowly walks into the front room their in,

“What are you two arguing about?”

And now they’re both yelling at you, yelling about who’s in the right, so you move to Andrew, wrapping your arms around his waist.

“What’s happening, Andy?”

“The lass is refusin to Call me Da! She wants to call me…. ya know the word…”

Mavis gasps, shocked at her mother moving towards her father, taking her dad’s side.

“Mammy! Why are you siding with him?”

She looks down at her daughter, smiling down at her, Andrew kisses the side of his wife’s head.

“I’m with ya Da on everything, we’re a team.”

She says pulling her tongue at her daughter, y/n and Andrew laugh warmly with each other, Andrew presses a little kiss to the side of her head as he holds her, looking down at their daughter.

“Why do I have to call him Da?”

“Because that’s what he wants you to call him, you’re gonna have to respect that, honey.”

She says softly, moving forward and kissing her daughter’s head, and their daughter crosses her arms storming off to her room. She looks back at Andrew,

“You tried… she’ll get it one day, Andy.”

She says, pushing him back, until there’s sitting on the couch together, cuddled up, waiting for their daughter to come back on her own.

___

“Do you think we’re good at this parenting thing?”

His question makes her look up at him,

“Yeah, I recon we’re doing ok…. Why?”

“Just… I’m worried… I mean, I’ve just had an argument with our child about what she should call me… it feels silly…”

She sighs, took his hair behind his ear, and moving her hand down to his beard, giving him scratches on his beard.

“We’re doing the best we can… she’ll appreciate it when she’s older.”

“Are ya sure…?”

“Yeah, Andy… I’m sure.”

He sighs, leaning back into the couch.

___

After a while, Mavis comes back out of her room, coming downstairs and looking up at her father,

“I’m sorry, da, I was being rude…”

Andrew looks at his wife, shocked at their child admitting that, and doing what she was asked to. He picks her up, bringing her to sit on the couch with them, he kisses her cheeks,

“It’s alright, angle… it’s alright…”

Y/n smiles at the pair, with their curly, auburn hair and their smiles. Mavis has Andrew’s crooked smile from before he fixed it, she’s adorable. They’re an adorable pair, father and daughter.

Their perfect.

[josephquinnswhore]

hello hello hello!! i hope you're having a wonderful day my dearest 💛

i have a dad pedro x pregnant wife reader request if you're taking them?

could you do where like reader is like almost ready to pop with their third child and their first maybe around 8 years old and their second is around 6 years old and reader and pedro finally agree on getting a house and they go house hunting. i'm a big sucker for imaging how it would be to have a family with this man and doing stuff like this with him.

pure fluff and happiness bc my depressed ass needs some happiness 💛💛

-much love my darling 💛💛

Settling In - pedro pascal x female reader

Summary: you and Pedro are hunting for your dream home before your third bundle of joy arrives.

Word Count: 1.7k

Content Warning: pregnancy, mentions of blood, bodily fluids, birth (not detailed.)

Note: I’m sorry this is short I’m sick and my brain hurts lol. Anyways I hope you love this, thank you so much for requesting!!

The grunt that leaves your lips as you roll around on the bed is involuntary, trying to escape the warmth urgently as your baby sits on your bladder, putting more pressure for you to get to the toilet. You ignore the pains in your body as you stand, waddling to the toilet just in time to not lose your bladder on the bathroom tiles.

You thoroughly wash your hands and wipe them on your fleecy pyjamas. A delicious smell wafts from down the hall, your mouth watering with saliva as your stomach grumbles with want. Your steps are heavy as you tread down the hallway, your body slightly rocking side to side as you waddle, your heavily pregnant stomach taking its toll on every inch of your body. Your eldest daughter Maria comes running toward you first, “morning mama, dads making us breakfast. Your favourite too.” You play with her hair as she hugs you, pushing a strand of dark brown hair behind her ear. “Oh did he? Isn’t that sweet.” She rushes to her spot at the table, screeching her chair as she waits patiently for her food. Your second daughter, Andie stays seated, you press a kiss to the top of her head as she swings her legs under the table as she groans in frustration, tired of waiting for her food. “Good morning baby.” She huffs, finally looking at you as Pedro comes over with plates full of food for the girls. “Hi mama.” Pedro serves the girls their food, not wanting to keeping them waiting a minute longer. He sets the rest of the food down for the two of you, stalking towards you with a grin on his face. “What’s got you in a good mood this morning?” You question with mock suspicion. “Can’t I just be happy to see my beautiful wife?” Your cheeks heat at his comment, rolling your eyes as you lean into him. “I’ll never get tired of hearing you say that.” He pulls away from the hug, pulling your designated seat away from the table so you can sit. As he sits you fill your plate of your favourite breakfast foods and some fresh fruit. “I do have good news to share baby, you got me.” He throws his hands up and you smile, watching him In encouragement to continue, “I think we’ve found a house. We can go and look today if you’re up for it. Make sure it’s everything you’ve dreamed of.” Your tears start filling with tears, hormones flowing through your body like a tidal wave. “Baby that’s incredible.” His grin widens, “the appointment is for 10:30 this morning. Once the girls are done eating I’ll get them ready, you sit and enjoy your breakfast.”

After 10 long minutes of ruffling through your wardrobe you finally find an outfit that you like, it accentuates your bump beautifully, matching your skin tone. You slip on a pair of vans, not bothering to be too formal today, thinking more about your comfort.

“You look incredible, do you know what?” You giggle and hide your face in your hands, after 10 years of being with Pedro he still had a way of making you feel like a teenager with a crush, “you only tell me a hundred times a day.” Pedro huffs shaking his head, “that’s not enough, make sure to scold me next time.” He jests. “The girls are strapped into the car, you ready to go?” You pat your pockets, phone, wallet, keys. “Good to go.” You confirm.

You try not to laugh as you see the girls dressed in mixed matched clothing, Pedro was never one for caring about kids dressing in super expensive clothing, nor did he care how they dress, he let them dress themselves most days unless it was ridiculously outrageous. Pedro opens the passenger door to his Audi for you, letting you hold his hand as you lower yourself into the leather seat. He presses a kiss to your hand before he shuts the door.

You had seen the house online, no price listed which you would assume means one thing; it’s expensive. The neighbourhood was filled with extravagant houses and perfectly mowed front yards, some with picket fences and gardens full of colourful flourishing flowers. The house had a sign out the front “for sale” in bold orange letters. It took your breath away momentarily, “holy shit.” Pedro only smiled as you watch in awe as he helps the girls out of their seats, opening the doors for them. “Wait here while I help mama out of the car, okay? Stay here.” The girls agreed in a unison of, “okay papa.” Pedro helps you out of the car, holding his hand above your head to make sure you don’t bump it on the door frame. A grunt leaves your lips as you stretch your spine, cracking in a few places before it settles again, earning a big kick from your baby.

“What a beautiful family we have here! You must be,” she checks her notepad for appointments, “Mr Pascal. Pleasure to meet you, I’m Donna.” Pedro nods his head, “this is my wife and our two daughters, Maria and Andie.” The middle age lady greets your daughters kindly, “hi Donna.” Your daughters greet, the ladies short blonde hair rested on the shoulder of her suit jacket. “Hi girls. Why don’t we get started and go inside and I can show you around!” “Perfect!” You cheer. As you walk through the front door you’re in the kitchen, the white granite bench accentuates the kitchen countertop. The kitchen was modern, stylish lights hanging from the ceiling illuminating a bright yellow light. “This kitchen was renovated by the last owners, first of many bonuses that come with the house!” You look around in awe, trying to take in the minute details and imagining yourself cooking meals for Pedro and the kids in this kitchen, smiling to yourself at the thought. “Now just around the corner we have the living room, a spacious area for your beautiful family! A fireplace was also added by previous owners, the perfect addition for the upcoming winter!” The lounge room was fully furnished, the room accentuated with light grey and whites. An artwork catches your eye on the wall, a familiar work “CENTREFOLD” by Kathryn Macnaughton. “The last owner had good taste in art.” Donna laughs, “the last owner painted this artwork.” You turn to her as your mouth gapes open, “wow, that’s incredible.”

The bedrooms are spacious, enough for the girls to have their own and baby when they get old enough. The mast bedroom is huge, the California King Bed sits proudly on its black bedframe, the room furnished and you wonder if it comes with the house. “Does the house come furnished?” Donna smiles widely as she shows you the ensuite bathroom. “It does come fully furnished! You can always discard of or replace the furniture if it’s not to your liking.” You and Pedro share a look “no, it’s perfect, you insist, inspecting the shower, already imagining you and Pedro showering your newborn together.

“Why don’t you go and show the girls the garden out back sweetheart?” The girls cheered at Pedro’s suggestion, “sure,” you gestured the girls out the back, “let’s go and have a look at the pretty flowers outside. See if we can find any butterflies.” The two girls take one hand each and drag you out the door which makes Pedro laugh. It’s beautiful outside, it’s cooling down through the day in transition for winter. The flowers are big and bold, full of nectar which attracts bumblebees and butterflies.

“Look mama a big butterfly!” Your eyes follow Andie’s finger, eyes finding the blue Monarch butterfly that lands on a yellow flower, sucking the nectar and fluttering away all in a matter of seconds. “Look he’s got friends!” Maria yells, running to chase the butterflies that wonder over the fence. “Aw they’re gone.” Maria sighs with disappointment in her voice, “it’s okay baby. We’ll see lots of butterflies if daddy wants this house.” Your hand rests on her head, running your fingers down her dark locks. “Are we going to live her mama?” You shrug, “it’s not up to me baby.”

“Actually, it’s entirely up to you. How do you like it?” Pedro’s voice makes you turn around, a small smile on your face as you see his red cheeks. “I love it baby. It just looks.. expensive.” Pedro frowns, the wrinkles in his face are deepening at his expression. His hand rests on your pregnant stomach, “this is for us, our family. If you want is, it’s ours.” You wipe the tears that collect on your lash line with a laugh, “making me emotional Pedrito. Yes I would love it here, the girls are having so much fun.” The sound of the girls laughter fills the air, the birds singing their songs accompany them. “I was hoping you would say that, because I already bought the house.” Pedro admits sheepishly. You wrap your arms around his neck, your bulging stomach creating a space between you, stopping you from being completely into him. “It’s perfect Pedro, I can’t wait for our baby to be here with us.” He kisses your lips sweetly, “I can’t wait for him to be here either.” You raise your eyebrows, “him?” He shrugs casually, “just got a feeling.”

“It’s a boy!” The midwife declares. Tears are falling down your cheeks as sobs fall through your lips, the small infant is placed on your chest, a beanie on his head and skin still coated in blood and fluid. His loud wailing cries settle as you wrap your arms around him, kissing him on the head. “You’re so perfect.” Pedro is kissing the skin of your sweaty shoulders as the midwife’s clean you up. “Oscar Jose Pascal. Welcome to the world.” Pedro is crying and you wrap him in a blanket, “do you want to hold him?” Pedro’s eyes are red from crying, “please, baby, please.” Pedro was shaking, you sit him down on the chair besides the bed, “take your shirt off, he needs skin to skin contact.” Pedro follows your instruction, holding his son to his chest, learning his head into Oscar’s. “God he’s so perfect. You did incredible baby, I’m so proud of you.” You place your hand on his thigh, rubbing it lovingly, “I can’t wait to get him home. The girls are gonna love him.” Pedro only hums in agreement as he intently listens to his soon coo at his touch. Your family was complete.

[lfc21]

Godparents

Player: Trent Alexander Arnold

TW: Children, party, Fluff

Prompt list: Children

Summary: The news of being godparents sent a feeling of immense pride over you but what about the idea of parents?

You and Trent had been invited to Rachel and Andy's baby shower. Since you had been with Trent you and Rachel had become inseparable besties. The moment you found out Rachel and Andy were going to be parents you could have exploded with pride and excitement. It was like a movie, you and Rachel both cried, laughed and planned about a million things all in the space of one night. What are friends for?

"Thank you so much for coming," Rachel said as you embraced her in a hug. Trent and Andy were already chatting away about their next match and any inside gossip they had heard from within the team. It was always this way - you started altogether but by the end of any occasion it was you and Rachel and the boys left to fend for themselves.

"You're so welcome! I honestly think you have invited the whole of Liverpool" You joked as you looked around at all the people laughing and talking as the summer sun sat on them all. You had to admit the party looked incredible, food everywhere, lots of balloons and the most amazing display of gifts you had ever seen.

"It was Andy" She admitted with a whisper and a roll of her eyes. "Half of the Scotland squad are here as well" Rachel added as she leaned closer to your ear with a whisper as she didn't want anyone to hear her complaints. You both quickly grabbed a drink before heading towards all of the other WAGs. You loved days like this - nice dresses, lots of drinks and enjoying yourselves.

"Everyone I would like to make a speech" Andy shouted as he tapped a fork onto a glass champagne flute. The conversations stopped and everyone found their way to their partners or designated groups. Trent was soon at your side and wrapped his arm around your waist as he pushed his sunglasses onto his face, you couldn't deny how good he looked. "Rachel could you come here for a second" He added in his famous Scottish accent. "So as you all know in two months' time me and Rachel will be welcoming our first baby into the world" Andy explained with clear pride written all over his face.

"Go on son!" Jordan shouted from behind you with a punch into the air causing heaps of laughter to bellow through the garden. You couldn't help but find amusement in the captain's very immature yet funny actions.

"Thanks for that skipper," Andy said with a nod to his familiar captain standing proudly at the back with a very embarrassed wife on his side. "As the time approaches we wanted to surprise very two friends of ours with some news" He added trying to explain the need for this big speech.

"So" Rachel and Andy both said in unison as if they had rehearsed that very line.

"Trent and y/n would you do the honours of being our Godparents?" Rachel asked with a huge wide smile. You couldn't believe your ears. Trent ran straight for Andy jumping into his embrace as if he had just scored a winning penalty. You quickly made your way straight to Rachel with the biggest smile. She embraced you in the tightest hug before being both crushed by Andy and Trent wanting to join in. You couldn't have asked for a better moment altogether. You heard all the cheers and congratulations from behind you and were filled with such honour and grace to be a part of such an amazing family.

-

You sat on the end of your bed pulling off your heels and tying your hair up. The madness of today shed a feeling of exhaustion on you and all you wanted was your bed and cuddles from Trent.

"Can you believe we're going to be godparents?" Trent asked as he wandered out of the bathroom door and back into your shared room. He had nothing but his boxers on and you were sure you were about to make yourself parents and never mind in the name of God.

"I know it is amazing" You softly replied with a smile as he sat himself down behind you. His arms wrapped around your waist as his head fell into the cruck of your neck. His warm skin was against yours as the comforting feeling of his being fell all over you.

"You're going to be the best god mum" Trent explained with a giggle as he shut his eyes and wondered about you as a mum, not just a god mum but a mum to his children. Your children. You didn't need to say any words you simply turned around and grasped your hands onto his cheeks and locked your lips with his. He was irresistible, he was everything you wanted, and he was yours. Maybe this was the start of your tiny family?

Hey guys 👋🏻 this is my second Trent imagine today 😱 I hope you guys enjoyed this one 😘 please leave feedback and requests as they are greatly appreciated 🥰 have the best day 🤗 masterlist 2022 💌 masterlist 2023 💌

@prettylittletrent @cornertakenquicklyyyy @trentalexanderarnold @robbo38 @robbothegoat @kostasstsimikass @chelseamount @chloereddy @tsimikasfamily @avenirdelight @blueathens @jordanhendersunshine @mrs-henderson @thatonesexycancerian @hendersons1truelover @nyctophilic0vitnir @peekapeaches @tsimikxs @tsimikostas @trentalexarnofan @leddows @moneymasnn @superkittywonderland @virgilvansike @virgilvandickmedown @hopefulromantic1 @robbo-trent-fanfiction26

[radskull-69]

ANDYS LOREEE (because he’s my fav)

I’m thinking of changing the whole ‘town got flooded’ idea, and ditched it for more fire then water.

In Andy’s small country town/ant nest he was the only bull ant in the whole town, and usually bull Andy’s were immediately sent to war but the town was so peaceful so there was no need to prepare warriors for war.

was the biggest in the town even as a toddler, but even after being bullied his future wife would stand up for him. Growing up together, he’d help around the hive with the heavy lifting while she help her mum with the larvae.

it was only when they were finally married, had two beautiful daughters did everything fall apart.

Andy left the ant nest to get his wife some red berries, a rarity that the nest couldn’t get since they grew outside. So when he came back with his arms full of berries walking over the little hill he as met with the blazing view of fire.

Screams were so loud that it made his body rattle, standing there uselessly before amongst the screams and yells of the fire ants attacking his home he heard his family’s screams the most.

Dropping the berries he ran on heavy legs to his house, busting in through the door in a panicked frenzy. He snatched a blanket from his bed on the way to the kids bedroom where he could hear his little family hiding in, trapped from the collapsed room.

he wrapped the blanket around them and carried them out with ease, even as he felt his lungs be drowned in toxic smoke. He ran out the house and to the exit of the nest where the survivors of other ants were rushing towards like a stampede.

he unbundled them from the torn fabric, eyes pooling with tears of pure relief when he was able to save them from the fire. But it was short lived when the loud bang sounded out, sounding like nothing he’s ever heard of before.

he watched the world tilt as he fell like a oak tree, falling heavily to the ground as he sputtered. A explosion of mind numbing pain in his left arm, or at-least where it once was.

he heard his family cry out faintly, but the ringing in his ears was too much. He could barely make out the colours of a fire ant approach, some.. gun in there hand. How’d they get it? He didn’t know, no bug, especially ants could ever get their claws on them. And not on one that’d blow his damn arm off

his yellow eyes widened when he could only weakly reach out with his remaining arm to his family, a futile attempt to protect them like he’s always been best at. But it was useless when he watched that vile fire ant use a gun he couldn’t even begin to imagine they got from, shoot right at his family.

and he watched as his children got obliterated in a burst of fire, air feeling too hard to breathe, more so then the smoke.

a wail left his sharp teeth as he leaned on his remaining arm, turning to all he had left, his wife.

but before he could even cry out her name she was shot through the chest, the beam didn’t stop there though. Gone right through her chest and into his eye, a burning bright light of flame the last thing he saw before the second most painful thing happened to him that day. Second to losing everything he loved

and they left him there, assuming he was just another corpse amongst many. And the fire ants left to destroy the next hive.

Andy recovered, physically at least. He kept the blanket he used to save his family all those years ago, the only thing that survived thr attack aside from himself. Even if it was tattered and faded, much like himself.

he knew the fire ants got their fire arms from humans, filthy humans. The fact another ant species would go against their own kind to side with humans all for greed is what mad something ugly spew from Andy’s heart.

he now roams foreign lands and cities, working as a bounty Hunter to keep himself afloat and to have a easy outlet for his rage. Wearing a hat to hide the nasty burn scar over his eye, and the blanket that once gave him comfort as a cape to hide what was left of his missing arm

he wasn’t the same man, vowing to kill any stupid bug, ant or human that got in his way. Of what? He didn’t know. Vengeance was the only thing keeping him going.

until… he met his new friends, or something like that. They don’t stop the grieving he’s been dealing with for years all alone, but they help him heal.

like the pop rocks his kids would give him when he was sick, or when his wife would kiss his cheek whenever he’d come back from a tussle with the bull, Or when his mother would untangle his antennae from the bushes he’d trip into.

so he’d protect this weird as hell group of mismatch bugs even if they make very morally grey decisions.

[imyourbratzdoll]

I would really like an Andy Barber part 3, with him grieving seeing his ex-wife with Ari and finding out about the pregnancy she missed.

hi! thank you for sending this, I hope you like it.

𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 1 - 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 2

summary - we see Andy's pov of everything.

warning - trigger warning - miscarriage, drinking and mentions of cheating.

the gif I use isn't mine, divider by @newlips

-𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑-

“Where the fuck are you going?” Andy growls, sipping his beer while Stacy stands by the front door, bags packed. She rolls her eyes. “I’m leaving. This isn’t fun anymore, Andy. And all you do now is sit around and drink, so I’m gonna go.” She chucks the keys down before turning and walking out the door. Andy storms after her and grabs her by her arm.

“You can’t just leave, you stupid slut.” His breath smelt like beer as he sneered.

“Andy! Andy! Let me go! You're hurting me! OW” Stacy struggles to get out of Andy's grip. She staggers back, looking at him in disbelief. A bruise had formed on her hand. She quickly grabs her bags and runs to her car, stuffing everything in before zooming off. Never to be seen again.

“YOU BETTER FUCKING RUN, YOU FUCKING WHORE!” The people in the neighbourhood that poked their heads out shook their heads. Wondering what the hell happened, “What?! What are you all fucking looking at?!” Andy shakes his head, swearing like a sailor, as he storms back into his house, slamming the door shut.

Andy spies a photo frame with a picture of him and his wife. He growls, grabbing it and throwing it. The frame smashes into the wall, glass shattering into tiny little pieces. The photo inside is still intact. He glares at the happy couple in the picture, feeling angry. He hates how they look, hates that you had to look like that on your wedding day. Andy slowly walks towards the photo.

He was staring down at the picture, feeling rage. ‘How dare you leave him. You had no right,’ you’ll come back. No one could love someone like you.

He walks back over to the couch, picking up his beer and taking a huge gulp.

–𝐀 𝐅𝐄𝐖 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊𝐒 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑 – 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐒- 

Andy sits in his office, scowling at all the paperwork that has built up. Andy was pissed but also regretful, seeing you show up at what once was both of your home, with his brother by your side. Well, he saw red, how could you go to his brother? Turn him against his own flesh and blood? Sure on the outside, he was pissed but inside, he was heartbroken. He was especially seeing how you reacted to each other like you were two puzzle pieces that fit perfectly together.

There’s a knock at his office door, “what” he snaps. The person on the other side nervously opens the door. “Um, Mr Barber…. There’s someone to see you.” He looks up from his paperwork, and he raises an eyebrow. “Well, who is it?” The newest assistant gulps, scared of the man in front of her. “Your mother, sir.” Andy groans before saying to let her in.

Pushing the paperwork aside, he straightens out his tie before leaning back. The door opens again, and his mother appears. An unpleasant smile plastered on her face, greeting her son before she sat. “What do I owe you the pleasure, mother?” 

Andy’s mother looks around the place with a permanent sneer. “So, where is this whore, you let destroy your marriage?” Andy rolls his eyes, “ah, that’s right. She left you, right? Your brother did mention something about the house being empty.” Andy groans, rubbing his face.

“Did you come in here for any specific reason? Or did you just come to let me know how horrible of a husband I was? I mean, why is no one telling Y/n how bad of a wife she was that made me cheat? Huh?! Why am I the fucking bad guy?! Fucking fat ugly whore.” He growls the last part more to himself. 

“.....So you don’t know. That’s a first.” His mother looks at her son and is disappointed that he turned out like his father. 

“Go ahead, mother. What don’t I know?” His eyes roll for the second time today, and there’s silence for a while as his mother thinks of the best way to bring this up, knowing it’s not hers to tell but also knowing you didn’t know how and Ari wouldn’t let you. She had to agree with her eldest, knowing that if Andy was exactly like his father that you shouldn’t be the one to tell him.

“Well, my dear son. You’re “fat” ex-wife was pregnant. That night you came home and ruined everything she was going to tell you.” She watches Andy's face change from arrogance to disbelief before anger sets in. But then he furrows his brows. “What do you mean, was?” His mother looks down, playing with her fingers.

Before she looks up and stares Andy in his eyes, “she had a miscarriage.” Tears form in Andy’s eyes as the regret and heartbreak set in. His mouth drops open, “what…?” His mother nods before standing, “well, I must be off. I’ve been invited to lunch with your brother and Y/n.” 

As she leaves, Andy sits there. Tears fall, thinking back to how you placed your hand on your stomach when he yelled at you. He thought it was because he called you fat and you felt insecure, but now he knows… You were trying to protect your child, his child, from him. A gasp leaves his lips as a panic attack appears, realising he’s all alone and that no one will be there for him.

-𝐀 𝐅𝐄𝐖 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐒 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑-

It’s been a few months since everything, and Andy has been drinking more. Barely sleeping, barely eating, he has bags under his eyes. He smells like a liquor store as Andy sits at home, staring at a blank screen while drinking his beer. Andy hears his phone ping, looking over and seeing the screen lit. He reaches over groggily.

Andy squints his eyes as he looks at his phone screen, his heart starts to beat rapidly at the notification he reads.

!𝑪𝑶𝑵𝑮𝑹𝑨𝑻𝑼𝑳𝑨𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵𝑺 𝑻𝑶 𝑨𝑹𝑰 𝑳𝑬𝑽𝑰𝑵𝑺𝑶𝑵 𝑨𝑵𝑫 𝒀/𝑵 𝑳/𝑵!

𝑹𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒚 45-𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓-𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝑨𝒓𝒊 𝑳𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒔 28-𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓-𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅, 𝒀/𝒏 𝑳/𝒏.

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒚! 𝑭𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒔, 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒄. 

𝑹𝑺𝑽𝑷 

**********

Andy stared at the screen for 10 minutes before throwing his phone. He heard it hit the wall and smash into little pieces while he stared into space. 

His world was crashing around him, and it was all his fault. 

-𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐄𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆-

Andy didn’t go to the engagement party, and he didn’t even send congratulations to them. He went out, got more alcohol and drank, but now the date for the wedding came up. He got the invitation, he didn’t want to go, but Andy decided he may as well, seeing as your marrying his brother.

On the day of the wedding, he got ready and snuck in. Sitting at the back and regretting every second of it, he regrets cheating and needing more. The moment his eyes lock onto yours, he regrets it all. But he can’t go back. He fucked up too much. 

As you both said your vows, tears rolled down his face as he recalled your wedding day and the vows you said to him and him you. He remembers he promised never to be unfaithful because that was always a fear of yours when it came to a relationship, and Andy broke that, all because he was the dumbest guy alive, and now he has to watch his brother get the girl.

-𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐍𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐘-

Andy thought he drank a lot after everything that had happened, but when news broke about you being pregnant and with Ari’s baby. Andy broke inside even more. He felt his heart cracking. Andy was slowly slipping away. He hadn’t shaved in over a year, barely taking care of himself.

His older brother is taking Andy’s place. He was going to be the husband and father Andy never could be. 

Whatever was left to be destroyed in the once happy home was smashed to pieces. Due to the anger that hit, Andy couldn’t do this anymore.

-𝐓𝐎𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐍𝐃-

Andy sits in his car, watching the happy couple run around their yard. The female is glowing, the baby bump showing through the sundress she’s wearing. The man behind her is chasing her, with a big smile on both faces. Andy watches as the man catches the woman, and love is shared between them, the shared kisses, the loving hugs. He watches as the man and woman head towards their house and out the front door.

A basket in the woman’s hand, before she gets in, she stops. Before turning to him, her eyes connected with his for a while. Andy stops breathing. The woman sends him a small smile before getting into the car and driving away.

A tear rolled down his cheek as Andy was filled with heart-wrenching regret. The only thought that was stuck in his mind was.

‘Why did he need more?’

-𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐄𝐍𝐃-

thank you for reading!

feedback and reblogs are greatly appreciated.

[musky-potato]

Affections

This was inspired after I saw a few panels of Iske being so sweet and seeming to be having a hard time holding himself back whenever he witnesses Ruby being her adorable self. It's not a fic, but more like word vomit. As per usual, this contains a few spoilers, and plenty use of the word 'wife' (I may or may not have some certain likings for that word. A little too much, maybe, its not even funny) so please read at your own risk.

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Tw's: None. Just fluff and comfort.

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or the story. This post is nothing but a fruit of my imaginations of how I'd picture him act towards Ruby based on my observation of him through canon (both novel and manhwa). Another thing I might add is that this post hasn't been edited yet so- LMAO. Enjoy!

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I feel like Iske isn't one for PDA. Yes, he's quite the affectionate one. But I feel like he'd be more comfortable doing so in private. He's not really one who likes to show off to people, but that doesn't mean that he minds or even cares about what people think about him. If he wants to, or when he thinks that his wife is being much too adorable for him to bear, he'd just go for it. Be it a kiss on the forehead, on her hands, wrist, or temple. Heck, Andymion's canonically became their third wheel. And it's only because Ruby put a stop to it, so he did. I think there's even a high chance that Iske had already noticed first that they still had a company at the time but still chose to ignore it. I mean, c'mon, he's a knight. He probably has a high sense or something. There's no way someone as obvious as Andy (and his horse) even managed to escape his detection. And at the time, Iske had only looked a little pissed at him. Not because he was caught, of course, but because Andy had just ruined the atmosphere for them! And Andy wasn't even trying to hide his presence! So yes, I'd like to think that he just doesn't really care about others. It was either that, or because he was just too busy at the time to be focusing on kissing the daylights out of his wife to even care to pay attention to his surroundings.

After all, rather than wasting his time thinking about what others have to say to him, he'd much rather spend his time spoiling or paying attention to his wife, Ruby.

On formal occasions or situations where he really couldn't do whatever he wants or go wild (in case he'd get another stern reprimand from his father about decorum and propriety), all he'd do is place his hand on the small of her back, sometimes shoulder. Acting as if he were guiding her in a gentlemanly manner, and if he couldn't hold her hand, then he'd hide it by taking her arm to get it entwined with his. Acting as if he were merely escorting her. Ruby would often catch him on his scheme; but in the end, she'd just shake her head or giggle because, really, it wasn't like she was any better than her husband or anything anyway.

However! It's totally different when they're in the privacy of their own room. That, or if there's no one around to catch them being their lovey-dovey selves. Then no restraint needed! ><

And because this is SFW only, I shall try to keep it PG-rated only, lmao. But anyways!

If they really got the privacy to themselves, then there'd be no hesitation for his touch. A hug would be given, a kiss (which often ended up turning as a full blown make out), and some caresses that would last longer compared to how he did in public. If it's in his office, then he'd either hug her while standing at first or move somewhere else to find something that Ruby could sit on. He's just attentive like that! Or if he happens to enjoy their hugs so much that he'd hate to break them apart just to let Ruby rest her legs, then he'd just sit her on his desk. Or the meeting table, really. He doesn't care. He'd let her sit there as he leans forward to either rest his head on top of her head or bury his face in between the junctions of her neck. It depends on how needy he currently is, really. Sometimes if he couldn't find anything for her to sit on, he'd just lift her up with his strong arms. Causing her to yelp before wrapping her arms to his neck for balance as he lets himself to rest his head to either her collarbone or chest, all while he still standing on his 2 feet, listening to her heartbeat and basking to the comfort of her warmth.

It's not really a fixed thing, but occasionally, if he finds himself to be much too touch starved, he'll simply go for the crook of her neck where he can feel her pulse and inhale the sweet scent that's wafting from her. All while keeping a tight grip on his hug before slowly loosening it down after he finally could gather his bearings. If it's just any other day when he needs a quick recharge of her, he'd just bring her to his arms as he placed his head on top of hers. All while enjoying the scent that was so uniquely hers before heading off somewhere to attend to his duties. Not before giving a few light pecks or a kiss after saying his goodbye, and see you later (possibly at dinner or in his bedchamber; it's theirs now; he had officially refused the notion of them sleeping separately, like ever, if he could help it).

I'd like to think that once they really have some time to themselves, he'll spend it all either relaxing or doing anything that Ruby wants. Be it just a casual walk together in the garden, reading some books, listening to her ramblings about her activities and recent shenanigans (sometimes cutting her words with few light teasing that would cause her to blush and gets flustered), going on dates, or just plain hanging out side-by-side in silence within their room! All while doing nothing but bask in each other's presence as he sits her sideways on top of his lap, leaning back on the huge couch rest as he lets her rests her head on his wide shoulder. One hand perched safely around her waist while the other is either playing, fiddling, or gently stroking on her much smaller hands, before he proceeds to lift his hand up to gently caressing her long strands of hair.

He'd listen to her calm breathing, stroking her arms, and giving light pats of comfort. Something that tends to make her end up feeling drowsy sometimes even makes her barely have the strength to keep her eyes open. Meanwhile, Iske would just stay there, watching in amusement as Ruby continues her futile effort to fight the sleepiness away. And eventually, if she does end up losing and falling asleep, he'd watch her there, perched on his lap, safely within his arms, as he lets his mind truly wander about the fact that he really gets to have this. Witnessing Ruby, his wife, who is currently at peace, free, and unbothered by the nightmares and trauma that used to haunt her in the past. He thinks about that, all while praying at the same time that he'd like for it to remain like that, always. Ruby being her happy and cheerful self while he stays in the back or her side, watching and supporting her in doing whatever she wants. And just before the drowsiness managed to finally get hold of himself too, he looks around to make sure the throw blanket has really done its job properly to cover his wife to avoid her catching a cold after waking from her light nap, Iske finally closes his eyes. Thinking right before he finally let sleep overtake his consciousness, that yes, he's finally at peace and happier than he's ever been.

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Okay this is all I got for now, i guess. Do tell me if there's anything you'd like for me to do. I'm currently accepting request! Hehe, thank you for reading! Bye for now!^^

Masterlist

[peri-helia]

Men of principle 

Also on Ao3 here

Joe had always known that sometimes he really was too much of a soft touch and that being said, sometimes it got him into trouble. Like that time in Bucharest when Booker had bet that they definitely, have their cake and eat it too, walk in the park, piece of piss, give Houdini a run for his money.

…It didn’t end well.

And tonight’s not going so swimmingly either.

He’d done the last sweep before everyone hunkered down for the night – they’re stopping over in the tiny Foxtrot safehouse in Napoli – when he comes back to their bedroom to find Nicky spread out like a starfish over the entirety of their bed, face down in the mattress in his t-shirt and shorts.

Shit.

“Habibi?”

“No,” Nicky replies, not even bothering to open his eyes.

This is what he gets for being nice. Exhaling with a fond smile at his stubborn husband, Joe quietly shuts the door and wanders towards the bed. For a moment he simply watches Nicky’s chest rise and fall and thanks the universe for the gift of his man and this long life to share it with him. Then he ducks down, gets his hands under Nicky’s ribs and left thigh and shoves.

Nicky’s hands and feet twist into the bedding, anchoring him in place, not giving an inch. Joe could tickle him, but he is an honourable man. So Joe gives in, straightening, hands falling to his hips.

“Cuore mio, you cannot banish me from the bed,” he huffs, fighting back a smile and losing. Nile had once asked what there was even left to fight about after centuries together. Andy had laughed and Quynh had hidden her face in her wife’s shoulder as the women had cryptically answered that even between them there were some molehills still seemed like mountains.  

“Evidently I can, babe” Nicky retorts, as concise as his blade.

“I only agreed with Nile to make her feel welcome here with us” he explains, trying not to sound as amused as he is. Nico and the hills he chooses to die on. Nicky turns his head towards him, eyes open and full of reproach. The tiny curl at the corner of his lips gives him away.

“There are other ways to make Nile feel at home without sacrificing principle”

Normally when a disagreement arises in this manner, when its one of the lesser ones and not tied to a job and a needless death, being reckless with their immortality in the way they haven’t been since they were young and thought forever meant forever, they just climb over each other in the bed. Work through it or agree to disagree. Or turn the disagreement into something they can agree on, like falling asleep in each other’s arms, kissing or who can be the most poetic in their sentiments. Nicky will say its always Joe who sees the inner meaning in the world and speaks it into being, and Joe will say Nicky’s poetry comes from the way he expresses his heart.

But when you’ve been together as long as they have, sometimes its good to spice things up every so often.

“What a thing, that my heart should be so capricious to me!” Joe sighs dramatically, clutching at his chest. “Very well. If my destiny is to spend tonight away from you then I shall only beg to kiss you goodnight before I go”

Nicky’s head rises off the pillows, looking at Joe curiously. He’s obviously trying to anticipate what this change to their habits means. He gives that small curved smile that means he is quite happy to see where Joe is going with this.

Joe’s own smile grows as sharp as his scimitar. He leans over his love and grazes his lips over Nicky’s cheekbone, warmth blooming in his chest at the way Nicky’s eyes flutter shut. Those long eyelashes dark against his skin. So he moves on, upward to gentle kisses on Nicky’s eyelids, that tempting scar between his eyebrows and the broad expanse of his forehead. Then he starts working down the other side of his face, lingering on his mole.

“Joe-“ Nicky’s fingers graze Joe’s beard, the edge of his hairline at the base of his neck where Nicky loves to kiss, loosely trying to cup Joe’s face and guide their mouths together but Joe purposefully evades him. The game’s not over yet.

Instead he kisses along Nicky’s neck, knee coming up to press onto the mattress, focusing on the moles dotted across the skin, suckling kisses and huffing in a mix of frustration and satisfaction as they quickly fade. Nicky moans and presses himself upwards, arching off the bed to fit the lines of their bodies together. As Joe continues his communing with the canvas of Nicky’s skin he can feel Nicky growing to hardness against his hip.

“Yusuf-“

“Mmph, Nicolo” Joe teases around his mouthful, hands trailing down Nicky’s ribs as Nicky moves from neck to shoulders, squeezing and scrambling. Right, then. He lifts free entirely.

“Yusuf?” Nicky’s eyes are hazy with want, wide with confusion at Joe’s removal. “Babe, is something wrong?”

Joe cannot help the way his heart twinges at the worry on his beloved’s face, and he almost feels bad for what he’s about to do. Almost. But for all the ways they’ve made love over their long lives, that delicious spark that comes from something new always reminds him of their youth. The beginning of it all, the intensity and passion. While he loves the devotion of their more languid lovemaking, that he can feel their devotion to each other in ever touch as ever, Nicky stoked to blazing is equally delicious.

“Nothing, hayati. I’ve had goodnight kisses aplenty to tide me over and now I’ll take my banishment. Thank god Andy insists on decent couches.”

Nicky blinks.

Once.

Twice.

“Habibi?” he sits up slowly in the bed, a tiny furrow appearing on that marble brow. He bites that lovely lower lip the way Joe is going to when the joke is over.

Nicky reaches out a hand, a feather light touch encircling Joe’s wrist. “Yusuf, I – I don’t understand. You aren’t – you are truly going to sleep on the sofa? Over this? I –“

Joe watches with burgeoning horror as Nicky’s ocean-like eyes become wet with tears. He made his Nicolo, his moon, the warmth of his heart cry. He is never going to spice anything up again. They will be as bland as bland and traditional as traditional can be after this.

He drops to his knees, bracketed by Nicky’s and clasps Nicky’s hands. “No, no sweetheart, I was only kidding. The nights I get to curl around you are the sweetest dreams this life could give me, ya amar and-“ he presses a kiss to Nicky’s hand, penitently and then he looks up –

Nicky is smiling. Scratch that, Nicolo is full on grinning. Face wiped clean of grief. What in the world –

“Got you”

“Oh you bastard! Crocodile tears?!” Nicky bursts out laughing, ugly snorting and it’s the sweetest music of Joe’s life and fucking hell but his husband is an ass.

“I’m going to throttle you, you –“ he hisses, a threat he hasn’t made since they were young and shy and dying of unresolved sexual tension, along with everything else.

“Oh, Yusuf. You know I love it when you talk like that”

He grabs at Joe’s hands and they fall back onto the bed, but rather than a kiss, they grapple, tussling for the upper hand . But they’re so old now, with more days spent together than apart and are too evenly versed in each other to outmatch the other. Eventually, they lie on their sides, facing each other, chests heaving.

Joe guides Nicky’s hand under his shirt, to rest over his thudding heart.

Nicky gives his pectoral an affectionate, appreciative squeeze. “Later,” Joe laughs. Then, “Where did you learn to cry on cue?”

“Nile. We were bored out of skulls on the Nairobi job and she taught me how”

Fucking hell. He knew Nile was lethal, but this is a new level. He must learn  immediately.  

“I still disagree with you.”

“I know, love. And I with you”

“Joe?”

“Yes, Nicky?”

“I love you more than I know how to ever explain, tesoro”

Joe squishes closer, pressing his face into Nicky’s neck, “There are not enough stars in all the galaxies in all the heavens to encompass how much I love you, habibi”

Nicky just huffs something almost inaudible about fights and finishing them but he presses back into Joe, interlacing their fingers tightly.

Some things never change.

[nowandajenn]

Blue Christmas -chapter 11

Summary: After almost three years of marriage, everyone would tell you that Chris and his wife Kelly are the most stable, solid couple they know. But behind closed doors, things are tense as they keep trying for a baby, to no avail. When a secret threatens to shake their solid marriage to it’s core, will they be able to pick up the pieces?

Series warnings: angst (like a lot), mentions of infidelity, language, family drama, pregnancy, sexual situations.

Author’s Note: I do not consent to have my content, whether it be this story or anything else of my creation, posted by a third party on any other platform other than right here without my permission. This blog is 18+ and is not intended for minors. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Heed the warnings.

January 8th (Six days post accident)

The pain meds they give people in the hospital following surgery pack a wallop, especially when given through an IV. They make me have crazy dreams, turn my attention span paper thin, and have the added bonus of turning my brain/mouth filter virtually non-existent.

I’m trying to pay attention to the conversation that Chris is trying to have with me. I really am. To be fair, he knew when he got here an hour ago that I had just gotten another dose. 

“What about this one?”

 Chris turns the iPad towards me so I can see yet another picture and resume’ of a home health nurse. It was an idea that he was originally against, but both Lisa and Andi, my main nurse, had both suggested that maybe having someone come in for a few hours a day a couple times a week would be a good thing. As much as he wants to do everything he possibly can for you, he also knows he’s only one person. After not hearing a response, and thinking maybe I had dozed off into a narcotic induced nap, he looks up to see me using my good hand to fiddle with the end of the braid that the nurse had put my hair into earlier after the shower that I’d finally been allowed to have after days of bed baths. 

Showers used to be glorious things. Water turned up to near scalding levels, music playing loud with me singing loudly (and badly) along, and nice shampoo and shower gel that smells amazing. This was not that. This was an entire process that took nearly an hour, starting with my casted leg and equally casted arm being wrapped in waterproof plastic and ending with me in tears because washing long hair takes two functional hands, and I only had one. There’s zero dignity in having another person give you a shower when you’re a grown woman who’s been showering and bathing by herself for many years now without issue. The nurse had been amazingly sweet and sympathetic and helped me with whatever I couldn’t do on my own (which was a lot), but the whole experience just left me feeling useless and depressed. 

 A soft touch to my hand brings me back to the present. 

“Where’d you go?” he asks softly. 

”My hair smells weird.” 

He leans forward a bit so he can get a whiff of my hair. “It smells okay to me.” 

“It’s not the same. It’s weird, clinical hospital shampoo. It doesn’t smell good like mine.” I lament. “I couldn’t even wash my own hair today. It’s too long, and I couldn’t do it with one hand. I can’t even-”

My voice starts to waver and I look down at my arm that’s laying useless in a sling across my chest. Even my fingers are so swollen and bruised that I couldn’t even put my rings on if I tried. My ring finger, which hasn’t been naked since Chris slipped my engagement ring on it some four and a half years ago, feels very bare and just wrong. Everything about the accident and my injuries keeps hitting me in different ways. 

I look over at Chris and then down at the iPad that he’s still holding. “Hire whoever you want. I honestly don’t care, and it’s not like I have any choice in the matter.”

He sighs softly, knowing that this conversation was never going to go over well. He knows that I know that I’m going to need as much help as I can get when I finally get released to go home, but he also knows that being as stubborn and self sufficient as I am, my worst nightmare is having someone have to help me do something as simple as get out of fucking bed. 

“This is the one thing that’s happened lately that you do get to choose. I want to get someone that you’re going to like and be comfortable with. I can’t imagine what this is like for you right now, and I’m just trying to make life as easy as it can get when you’re home.”

“I don’t know if I’m going to like someone from a goddamn resume’. As long as they can do the job without fucking me up more than I already am, great.” My back is starting to ache because of the position that I’m laying in, and when I go to slide further up the bed, I’m rewarded with a searing pain in my stomach from the movement pulling at my still healing splenectomy incisions. 

“Fuck, honey-”

I fall back on the pillows, irritated as hell and over this damn conversation, and the words fly out of my mouth before I can even think about stopping them. 

“Just pick someone! Maybe you’ll get lucky and you’ll get another girl who’s going to fall for the irresistible Chris Evans charm, who has no moral compass and no compunction about sleeping with married men. Then you can throw a shot into her too.”

I watch as his face falls, his hand pulling back from where it’s been resting on my arm and a lump the size of a golf ball forms in my throat. I didn’t mean to say that. I might as well just be wearing a name tag that says Hi, I’m: Here To Make Things Worse. I cover my mouth with my hand and glance up towards the ceiling, trying to blink the tears away before they can fully form. 

“I’m…..I’m sorry. I didn’t mean….” I start, but the words don’t want to come out. 

“It’s okay.” he tries to assure me. 

“No, it’s not.” I look down at the fluffy blue blanket that Chris brought me from home and I play with the slightly frayed edge, ashamed and unable to look at the broken look on his face. “This is a bad idea.” 

He pops a shoulder. “Could always hire a male nurse.” he says, raising his eyebrow. 

I let out a small snort, knowing he said it to try and lighten the mood, but all I can feel right now is trepidation at the thought of coming home with Chris to recover and him taking the brunt of all of my frustrations and emotional eruptions. 

He turns the iPad off and puts it on the side table and I watch as he stands up and grabs his jacket off the back of the chair, and my eyes widen.

“Don’t leave. Please, I-” I sputter out, trying to push down my panic. 

“I’m not. I’m just going to run down and get a coffee and check in with Shanna and see how Dodger’s doing. Are you getting hungry? You want me to grab you something?” 

I squint, trying to remember the dinner options on the meal sheet they give me every day and which one I might have picked. 

“Uhhhhh….no. I’ll be okay. They should be bringing whatever I picked out soon anyway. I’ll live.” 

“Okay. Text me if you change your mind. I’ll be back. No more than half an hour, I promise.” he says, resting his palm on the top of my head gently. 

When Chris gets back twenty or so minutes later, I’m honestly sort of surprised he came back instead of just going home and getting away from my emotional, broken ass for a while. And even more surprised that his mom is with him, since I didn’t know she was planning on coming by today. 

When they walk in, I’m sitting in one of the chairs in the room with my leg propped up, poking at a dish of red jello with a spoon. 

“What are you doing out of bed?” Chris asks, surprised. 

“I had to pee after you left, and being in bed was making my back hurt, so I asked if they could just park me here for a while. There’s not a ton of options when all you can really do is sit, so…I’ll be ready to get back in bed in a while.” 

Lisa starts towards me and I push the wheeled table away from me slightly so she can bend down and give me a hug, which I return with a strength that takes her by surprise a little bit. Knowing how hard the last few days (hell, weeks for that matter) have been and the fact that your mom isn’t around, she just had a feeling today that you could probably use a big dose of love that only a mama can provide, which is why she decided to pop by and surprise both you and Chris. 

She tilts my cheek to the side gently as she examines my face. “Your bruises are looking better.” 

“Mmm. Still hurts. Airbags will save your life, but you’re going to feel like you went twelve rounds with Mike Tyson after they go off in your face.”

“So, Chris and I were talking downstairs, and I had an idea.” I swallow my mouthful of jello and look towards Chris, really hoping that he didn’t tell her about what I said. He shakes his head almost imperceptibly and the anxiety in my gut loosens up a bit. 

“What would you think about me coming to stay with you guys for a bit when you got home?” 

“Chris, tell me you didn’t ask your mom to come home with us to be my babysitter.” I groan. Lisa snorts slightly. “He didn’t ask. I’m offering. I know you’re not crazy about someone you don’t know being in your house and….” she searches for the right words “helping you. And it wouldn’t be for too long; just until you guys get yourselves situated at home and get into a routine with things. It’s just to make the transition a little smoother.” she assures me. 

I look over at Chris and he shrugs, gesturing to me. “This is your call.” 

I sigh, looking over at my mother in law, who I adore more than anyone in the world. “I’m not great to be around lately. I’m still not convinced that coming home after this is the right thing to do, and I’m afraid it’s really just going to make things worse. I don’t want you both to have to deal with my psychotic mood swings.”

“Sweetheart, if your mood was completely stable after everything that’s happened, I’d be terrified. You’re hurt, and you can’t do the things that everyone else takes for granted without help, and everyone knows how frustrating that is. I know you’re angry and sad and frustrated. And that’s okay. We’re-” she gestures between herself and her eldest son “made of tough stuff. Well, I’m tougher than him. We all know he’s a big baby who cries at the drop of a Hallmark movie.” I sputter out a laugh while wiping my eyes. 

“We all love you, and we’re all here for you no matter what.”

January 17th (Fifteen days post accident)

“They would release you on the coldest day of the year.” Chris says as he makes a final sweep around the hospital room that I’ve called home for the last two weeks. 

I huff out a small laugh. “Let’s just get the hell out of here before they come back here and tell me that they’ve decided to keep me for another week.”

“They should be back any minute with your discharge papers, and then we’ll go. The doc said he was going to call in your prescriptions to Walgreens, so hopefully they’ll be ready by the time we get there. Or I can get you home and settled in and run back out and grab them.” 

“We can wait for them. It’s too cold to be running back and forth.”

I look down at my “going home” outfit and can’t help but feel completely ridiculous. A pair of pink flannel pajama pants with penguins on them (they’re the only thing besides sweats that I can get up over the cast on my leg), a long sleeved white shirt, and one of Chris’ hoodies that’s zipped up over my sling, leaving just my good arm in the sleeve. They removed the stitches from my arm yesterday, but I haven’t been able to bring myself to look at it. The compression bandage that I’ve been instructed to wear all the time (with the exception of showers) is a lot more comfortable than the layers of wrapping my arm was encased in, but still annoying. And it itches like the devil. My right foot is encased in fluffy socks and a shoe, and my left leg is of course still in a cast, a sock pulled down over my exposed toes so they don’t freeze off when I go outside. 

My eyes go to the small black wheelchair that’s coming home with me and I squeeze my eyes shut. Because I’ve been instructed not to use my damaged arm for ANYTHING more strenuous than moving it gently to maneuver a shirt on and off, I can’t use crutches. 

Chris finishes packing up my backpack, and stops when he sees me staring vacantly at the wheelchair. He frowns, and walks over slowly, sitting on his heels in front of me. 

“Hey.” he murmurs softly, snapping me out of my reverie. 

“Hmm?”

“This isn’t going to be forever. They said the cast is going to come off hopefully in a couple of weeks, and then they’re going to put you in a walking boot. At least then you’ll be able to get up and move around. I know, I know how much you hate this. I do. But it is not forever.”

“I know.” I hate how small my voice is. “I hate how I have to think about every move I make. I can’t reach for anything because I can’t use my arm. I have to be careful when I stretch or it hurts my stomach. I have to cough or sneeze as soft as I can or else my ribs hurt. It’s just….I feel like a prisoner in my own body right now.” 

“But you’re going to get the chance to get stronger and recover.” I look up at him and our eyes meet, and I know we’re both thinking about the fact that the driver of the car that hit me died four days ago from his injuries sustained in the crash, and how that could have been me instead. 

When the nurse comes in with my discharge papers and the litany of aftercare instructions, Chris takes them and heads downstairs with my stuff so he can bring the car around to the front entrance. The nurse helps me put my coat and hat on before helping me maneuver myself into the wheelchair and we head down to the first floor. 

“You excited you’re finally out of here?” she asks me with a smile. 

“And nervous. It was kind of comforting knowing that even though I was stuck in here, if anything went wrong, I was in the right place.”

I see Chris pull up at the curb, and the nurse wheels me outside, and I gasp at the biting cold. It’s the first time I’ve felt fresh air on my skin since the day of the accident, and although it’s beyond freezing, it still feels amazing to breathe it in. It isn’t until I get situated in the passenger seat and we’re ready to drive home that the panic sets in. 

“The last time I was in a car I almost died.”

Chris takes his hands off the steering wheel and reaches over to hold my right hand. 

“I know.”

“You drive like an insane person.” 

Despite the seriousness of the conversation, he snorts, because he knows the amount of speeding tickets he’s accumulated since he started driving is ridiculous. But he also knows that since the accident, he’s been almost hyper aware of his speed and everything going on around him, when he usually just goes on autopilot when he’s driving, like anyone else who drives every day. 

“I promise I won’t drive like an insane person with you in the car.” 

“Don’t drive like an insane person ever. You can’t control the way other idiots drive, but you can control how you do. I need you around.”

Those words make hope bloom in his chest. 

“I promise.”

When we get home, relief washes over me. As promised, Chris drove very carefully and obeyed the speed limit, but I was still a nervous wreck the whole 25 minute drive. Plus, being scrunched in the roomy, but limited space of the passenger seat isn’t very comfortable with my injuries. One the car is parked inside the garage and Chris has my door open, he realizes that he didn’t really think this part through very well. 

The furniture inside has been arranged and re-arranged about a dozen times in different configurations to accommodate the wheelchair in the house. He purchased a shower chair for me to make showers easier, he got cast wraps to keep the cast on my leg dry, he set up a perfect little nest with pillows and blankets on our sectional so I’d be comfortable, with remotes and chargers and books, and even a little cooler within reach. 

I notice the look on his face that he gets when he’s confused about something or trying to find a solution to a problem, and turn to him. 

“You’re trying to figure out how you’re going to get me in the house, aren’t you?”

The sheepish, yet slightly guilty look on his face tells me I’m right. “I have guys coming on Monday to put in a temporary ramp over the stairs in front. But I didn’t think about today.”

There’s two steps to get from the garage into the house, and the wheelchair isn’t going to make it up them. 

“You’re going to have to carry me in the house.”

“I was thinking that, but I don’t want to hurt you. You’re still really sore.” he says, gesturing to his chest and stomach. 

“I’m pretty sure everything I do for a while is going to be somewhat painful, but I think this is our only option. Why don’t you grab the wheelchair and bring it in, put Dodger in the bedroom until we get inside so he doesn’t knock me down when he sees me, and then come back out and grab me?”

He exhales slowly. “Okay. I’ll be right back. Just…..” he trails off, gesturing vaguely at me. 

“Trust me, I’m not going anywhere.” 

When Chris comes back out, he comes around to the passenger side and opens the door for me. I turn in the seat, angling myself as much as I can to make it easier for him to grab me and carry me inside. I’m slightly nervous about how much this is going to hurt, but I’m determined to not let it show. 

“You ready?” 

I take a deep breath and nod. He stoops down and slides his left arm around my back, while his right arm loops under my legs and he lifts me gently, my good arm going around his neck. He’s carried me like this about a million times in the years that we’ve been together, but for some reason, all I can think about is how he carried me (both of us slightly tipsy)  like this up to our hotel room after our wedding reception, and me laughing and telling him not to drop me or else I’d get our marriage annulled. I squeeze my eyes shut at the memory. 

I open them back up when I feel Chris setting me down on the end of the sofa and helping me get comfortable. 

“Are you okay? I didn’t hurt you, did I?” he asks nervously. 

“I’m okay. Can you just grab a couple pillows so I can put my leg up though?” 

He hits the button on the side of the couch for the foot rest to come up and slides a couple throw pillows under my leg. 

“Can I get you anything? Are you hungry? Thirsty?” 

“I”m okay for right now. Can you go get Dodger though? I missed him like crazy.”

He smiles and goes to the bedroom to let the dog out, and a second later, I hear the sound of his nails clicking rapidly on the hardwood. 

“Hi, baby!” I exclaim, holding my arm out. 

“Dodge, be gentle, okay? Careful.” Chris warns. 

Dodger jumps up on the couch next to me and immediately snuggles into my side. Luckily enough, he’s on my good side so I can give him pets and belly rubs. 

“Mom’s going to be over in a few hours. She said she wanted to give us a little bit of time to get settled in and such. I’m gonna go and unpack our stuff and start some laundry. You have the remotes and your phone and charger nearby….if you need anything, just yell. Or tell Dodger to come get me.” 

“I will. I think I’m going to try and take a nap though, honestly. The trip home kind of took it out of me.”

“Okay.” He grabs a blanket from the back of the sofa and drapes it over me, dropping a kiss to my head before he leaves to go get started on unpacking our stuff. As he walks away, he stops to look back at me again, thinking to himself how it seems like it’s been a lifetime since the last time the both of us were in this house together, even though it’s only been about three weeks. As much as he wanted you back home, he never in a million years thought this would be how it happened. 

January 25th (23 days post accident)

“God, that feels nice.” I moan at the feeling of Chris’ fingers in my hair, massaging the shampoo in. 

“Why do you think I always beg you to wash my hair?” he says, smirking. I catch his use of the present tense, and try and think about how long it’s been since the last shower we took together before the accident. I’m damn near positive it was way different than the ones that have happened since I’ve been home, and probably ended in orgasms all around. 

“This is infinitely better than the showers in the hospital. The nurse who always used to do mine had long ass nails. I’m pretty sure one of them is still embedded in my brain somewhere.” 

He laughs as he rinses my hair with the detachable shower head. After working conditioner through my hair and helping me scrub myself down and even shaving my right leg and under my arms for me, he steps out of the shower and wraps a towel around his waist before grabbing another one to dry me off. I’m sitting on the toilet lid in my underwear while Chris smooths lotion on me, letting me do what I can reach with my good arm when I say his name softly. 

“Thank you.” I watch his eyebrow quirk up in confusion. 

“What for?”

“This. The- everything. When we got married, I bet you never imagined you’d have to help me shower and put on clean underwear and take me to go pee.”

He looks down as he continues to rub the lotion into my leg. “No, but I don’t think anyone goes in ever thinking about the worst case scenario where those things would ever come up. But that’s part of the deal, right? For better or worse? That covers everything; not just the good stuff. You don’t have to thank me. It’s my job.” 

“You could have just let my mom have her way and let them take me home.” I point out. 

He scoffs and shakes his head. 

“Absolutely not. For one thing, you and your mom would have ended up killing each other. And for another…..your head is giving you enough grief as it is right now, and being around her would have just made it worse. I couldn’t do that to you.” 

I see Chris reach for my shirt and groan, knowing how much it hurts my arm to put a damn shirt on. 

“How bad does it look?”

“Your arm?” 

I nod slightly and he sighs. “It’s still really raw and red. It’s going to fade, but it’s going to take some time. The doctor recommended some stuff that’s supposed to help with scars. Make them less visible over time.” 

“Can I see it?” I ask. 

“Are you sure?” he asks. I shrug a bit. 

He picks me up off the toilet seat and walks us in front of the bathroom mirror and turns so I can see my arm. I suck in a shuddering breath and close my eyes. It’s ugly. A roughly five inch or so vertical incision straight down my upper arm, red and raw and glaringly obvious. Even when it’s fully healed, it’s going to be ugly. 

“If you want, I can always talk to Josh. We can see if he can draw something up so you can cover it up once it’s fully healed.”

I nod as tears leak out of my eyes. Chris tilts my chin up. “It’s just a scar. It doesn’t define you and it’s not the end of the world. It doesn’t make you any less beautiful.” He pivots so my ass is sat on the bathroom vanity and once I’m settled, he pulls the shirt over my head, being gentle with  my arm, and then helps me into a clean pair of pajama pants. 

“You know, we’re actually getting kind of good at this.” he says as he carries me out of the bathroom and sets me down in our bed. 

“I hate that that’s something to brag about.” I tell him, rolling my eyes. “Although, I guess after doing the same thing day after day for a couple weeks, it’s to be expected. You don’t look quite as terrified now as you did the first time we did this.” 

February 2nd (one month post accident)

“I’m sorry I didn’t call sooner….I was in a pretty serious car accident a month ago and things have been a little hectic since then. I haven’t been cleared by my doctor to fly yet, so there’s no way we can make it out there. Mmmmhmmm. Yeah, the reservation is under Kelly Evans.” 

Chris walks into the kitchen and starts making himself a cup of coffee while I’m on hold with the resort to cancel the Valentines Day reservations I had made back in November. I had a solid plan that I had cooked up with Meghan and his team so he wouldn’t have anything scheduled for the three days I had booked at Post Ranch Inn, but then between finding out about the affair and the accident, my carefully made plan got blown straight to hell, leaving me feeling a little (lot) angry. 

“Okay. Thank you again for all your help. I’m sorry again for the late notice.” 

I end the call and toss my cell phone onto the island, irritation bubbling up inside me. 

“Who was that?” 

“Canceling the reservation I made for us for Valentines Day at Post Ranch Inn. I made it before I found out about you fucking someone else. That kind of took the romance out of it a little bit. Well, that and the fact that my body’s still mostly useless.” 

My newly (as of two days ago) uncasted leg starts itching to high hell under the walking boot and compression sock I have on, and I start the process of unstrapping the boot one handed so I can enjoy scratching my leg to my heart’s content. I wish I could have gotten a picture of Chris and the doctor’s faces when my cast was finally cut off and a fork, two pens, and a plastic ruler came tumbling out of it, all lost in my attempt to wedge something down there to scratch the itch. 

He sighs lightly and turns so his back is to the counter, giving me what I’ve coined his “kicked puppy look.” Most of the time, I feel guilty for whatever I said to make that look appear, but today I’m just too agitated to care. 

“Don’t give me that look. You do it every single time I mention the fact that you had sex with someone else. You know what you did. You don’t get to make that face and look like I just told you that Disneyland is closing down forever.”

He walks over to where I’m sitting with a sigh, and reaches to help me with the straps on my boot. “Can we not fight? Please? I know that there’s an ocean of stuff we have to work through, and I know none of this is easy…I just don’t want to fight with you.” 

“Just stop. I can do it myself. You know, just because I still need you to help with most of my basic human functions doesn’t mean that I necessarily like being around you all the time. You’re my husband and for some God forsaken reason, even though you did what you did, I still love you, despite me calling you a cheating shitbag in my head at least once a day. So, just leave me alone for a little while, okay? I was really excited about having this trip happen, and it all got blown to hell in a really magnificent fashion, so let me just sit here and be pissed off and sad about it.” 

He holds his hands up and backs away. “Okay. I can do that. Just, we have your doctor’s appointment at 2, so let me know when you need me to come help you get ready.” I look up at him and nod, spinning my phone on the table. He starts to walk away, but then turns back towards me. 

“You know, when the accident happened and you were out of surgery, I kind of went into crisis mode. I called my team and canceled everything, because I knew that you were going to need someone to be there for you and help take care of you until you were stronger. And I know that you have a million people that are in our lives that would drop everything and do that for you, because you’re amazing and everyone loves you so much. The parade of people that have come and gone through here since you’ve been home is proof of that. I kind of just took charge, because I didn’t know what else to do….and I don’t think I took the time to stop and ask myself if you even wanted it to be me, given everything that happened.”

“Chris….I did. I wouldn’t have felt comfortable having anyone else do it.” 

He nods. “I know that it’s hard for you to be around me sometimes. I know that you’re still angry, and hurt and upset and you have every right to be. I know we’re a mess, but once things settle down a little bit, we’ll get in to go see that therapist that Carly told me about, and we’ll start working through it. That is, if you still want to.”

“I do.”

A few hours later, we’re sitting in the waiting room of my gynecologist’s office, and Chris is just staring around the room at the posters on the wall, and occasionally glancing at the couple of pregnant women that are in the waiting room with us. 

“Why did you need to see her?” he asks softly. 

“I’m overdue for my annual exam, and since all I do lately is go to the doctor, I figured I should probably just get it out of the way.” It’s a half truth. Well, ⅓ truth. If the doctor was right about my hcG levels when I was in the hospital, I’m about six weeks pregnant, and it’s probably time to get official confirmation in black and white. And if I am, Chris deserves to be there to hear it. But first, he needs to get something done himself. 

The nurse comes by and hands us both a clipboard with paperwork on it, and Chris’ eyebrows raise. “Why do I get paperwork?”

The nurse clears her throat nervously and taps a section on the paperwork. STD test, with the works. She walks away to let us fill out the papers, and his eyes shoot to mine. 

“Really? I told you, I used a condom.” he whispers. 

“I don’t care. I need to see it for myself, for my own peace of mind.”

He’s called back first, and with a nervous swallow and a look back at me, he follows the nurse. I’m called back shortly after, and after blood work, urine test, and the internal exam, Chris is allowed back into the exam room to wait with me while the results come back. 

“You want to grab something to eat after this? You didn’t have much for breakfast earlier.” he asks. 

“Uh, yeah, I-” I’m interrupted by a knock on the door followed by Dr. Hartman coming back in. By the look on her face, I just know. 

“Congratulations, you guys are pregnant.”

Chris is lucky that there’s a chair right behind him, or he would have been in a world of pain. When I see him basically collapse into the chair, I get worried. 

“Mr. Evans, are you okay?” Dr. Hartman asks, reaching for his wrist to check his pulse. His face is a look of pure shock, like he can’t begin to comprehend what he just heard. 

“Chris?” I ask, my own emotions threatening to spill out despite knowing this was coming. I instantly feel bad for not giving him a heads up that this was a very real chance. His eyes find mine and we just stare at each other. 

“I’m okay. I just- it’s- are you sure?” he asks, his voice unsteady. The doctor steps away, seemingly convinced that a movie star isn’t going to drop dead of shock in one of her exam rooms. “The tests are extremely accurate, but I’m going to go ahead and do a transvaginal ultrasound so we can take a look. If you’re far enough along, we should be able to hear the heartbeat.” 

Since I’m still in the gown and haven’t gotten dressed yet, I lay back on the table and assume the position again as she pulls the ultrasound machine towards her. Chris gets up on unsteady legs and stands next to me, still looking shell shocked. 

“Okay, this is going to be a little uncomfortable. Just take a nice deep breath.” she warns. I do as she says, but I still make a face when the probe is inserted. Chris is torn between watching my face and wanting to see what’s happening on the screen. Me, I’m too afraid to look anywhere but his face. For as much trepidation as I’m feeling over this pregnancy, I’m overcome with the sudden fear that she’s going to find the baby and there’s not going to be a heartbeat, just like last time, and I honestly don’t know if I can go through that twice.

“There it is.” I hear from next to me. I watch as his eyes move from mine to the screen, seeing the tiny blob in the middle of my uterus with the little flicker in the middle. A heartbeat. I still can’t bring myself to look though. Dr. Hartman, who was the one who told me that I had miscarried and performed my D&C, senses my fear, and quietly hits a button on the machine. The sound is almost overwhelming as it fills the room. I have a crazy thought that it almost sounds like clothes in the washer as it’s agitating. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. My eyes snap to the screen, and I immediately bring my hand to my mouth and burst into tears. 

“From the size, it looks like you’re about six or seven weeks. Which is going to put the due date at about….” she stops to put some numbers into the computer. September 23rd, give or take.”

After printing off some pictures and leaving the room to let me get cleaned up and get dressed, we leave the office feeling a million different emotions. We’re both quiet on the drive home, both lost in thought. How many times have we wished for this? How many negative pregnancy tests have we seen and tossed angrily into the trash, tears threatening to spill. How many times did we say “It’s okay. It’ll happen. I know it.” only for it to happen during the worst period in our marriage? 

When we get home, I slowly waddle into the house, still enjoying the feeling of being able to (somewhat) walk instead of being chained to that damn wheelchair. I make my way to the back door to let Dodger out, passing Lisa, who’s watching both Chris and I with a curious, careful gaze. 

I feel him behind me as I turn on the tap, filling a glass with water and downing it almost all in one gulp. 

“How are you feeling?” he asks softly. He can see my hand trembling slightly as I hold the glass, and he knows he has to tread lightly. 

“In general? Or about the fact that we found out I’m pregnant in the middle of our personal shit storm?” 

“Both.” I drop my head. Truth be told, I’m exhausted. My arm is killing me, the nerve pain making burning pins and needles radiate over my whole arm. My leg is aching from being on it for an extended amount of time. 

I’ve been trying to roll it over and around in my head for weeks. What to do if I really did have the shittiest luck in the world, and I did end up actually pregnant in this situation. I keep coming back to the bad joke that my brother made the night I found out about Chris about me not having to deal with all of this while I was pregnant. 

“I don’t know if I can do this.” My voice is soft, but he hears it like I’m screaming it. “I don’t know if I can have this baby. I don’t know if my body can handle it, and I don’t know if I can handle it emotionally.” 

The words punch through him like a hit from a prize fighter. He knows exactly when it happened; the night that you had come over to get a dress from your closet and we had ended up defling quite a few surfaces in the house. There’s a good chance that our baby was conceived on the dining room table. 

“Are you talking about-” he can’t even bring himself to say the words. He KNOWS this the worst timing for this to happen. He KNOWS that no matter what, it’s your choice. But the thought of not having this baby with you almost brings him to his knees. 

My breath hitches. “Chris, look at us. Take a good look at me, at my body. I’m broken. I’m still recovering. I’d have to be monitored more closely to make sure that everything is okay. Because we don’t know if it will be.” The thought of finally getting everything I wanted with my husband and then not having it makes my chest hurt. 

“I’ve wanted kids with you since the moment you told me you loved me for the first time, and that I was it for you. I knew that you were going to be the father of my kids one day. But now, with everything, I don’t know if that’s the case anymore.” 

The tears are burning my eyes, and I can feel the sobs starting to build in my throat, and I know if I don’t get out of this room right now, I’m going to lose it. I’m pretty sure that Lisa heard at least part of our conversation, and I can’t talk about it anymore without losing my mind. I set my glass in the sink and silently make my way upstairs, thinking that two of the worst conversations I’ve had in my life have taken place in the kitchen that I loved. Now I can barely stand to be in it. 

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

It’s gotten buried a bit underneath news about the negotiations over a cease-fire in Gaza, the related protests on U.S. college campuses, and the ongoing trial of a former president for allegedly covering up payments to a pornography actress, but high-profile Democratic Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar was indicted on Friday by the Department of Justice in Houston. He says he is not guilty of the charges and will stand for reelection as planned this fall.

Cuellar, a relatively conservative Democrat who represents a district that stretches along the U.S.–Mexico border around Laredo and pokes up to San Antonio, is charged with 14 counts of conspiracy, wire fraud, and so forth related to allegations that he was paid under the table to influence U.S. policy on behalf of Azerbaijan’s national oil company, SOCAR, and the Mexican bank Banco Azteca. (Neither Banco Azteca nor SOCAR, nor any of their employees, have been charged with a crime.)

A longtime incumbent, Cuellar won his general-election race in 2022 by a wide margin. But his district, the 28th, has a significant population of Hispanic and/or Latino voters and has become more Republican in recent years as those groups have trended rightward. The Cook Political Report rates it as having a Democratic “lean” of 3 points—which, roughly speaking, means a generic Democrat would be expected to beat a generic Republican in the district by only a 3-point margin. That’s close enough to mean that Cuellar’s indictment and potential conviction could threaten Dems’ efforts to retake the House of Representatives, which Republicans currently hold by a tenuous four votes.

The case is similar to that of Democratic New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez, another longtime incumbent who was indicted last September for allegedly accepting bribes from three men in New Jersey who were seeking to influence U.S. policy toward Egypt, among other things. Menendez’s trial is set to begin next week, and he says that if he is not convicted he still might run for reelection in November as an independent. While he’d be very unlikely to win such a race, he could potentially siphon enough votes away from the Democrats’ presumptive nominee, current Rep. Andy Kim, to throw the seat to Republicans.

So, both of these members of Congress are in high-stakes races that they are refusing to drop out of despite facing corruption indictments. But there’s another major similarity between the two stories as well: Wives!

Menendez’s wife Nadine was also charged in his case, and the allegations against the couple include claims that the men accused of seeking favors from the senator bought Nadine Menendez a Mercedes convertible and paid her to hold a fake no-show “job” at a halal-certification business. Cuellar’s wife Imelda was also indicted; she’s accused of receiving the alleged bribe payments from SOCAR and Banco Azteca through shell companies she owned that were ostensibly providing the firms with “consulting” services. The government alleges that, actually, Imelda Cuellar did “little to no legitimate work” in return for the hundreds of thousands of dollars she was paid.

A statement issued by Cuellar says his wife is innocent. Nadine Menendez has pleaded not guilty, although in a disclosure that may have caused some awkwardness around the proverbial Englewood Cliffs dinner table, Robert Mendendez’s attorneys told a judge in January that his potential testimony at trial might implicate her. Since then, however, the pair’s cases have been separated from each other in a way that will preclude anything he says from being used against his spouse.

Does the Democratic Party have an (alleged) Bribery Wife Guy problem? Are liberals soft on wife crime? This fall, the voters will have their say.

[abbatoirablaze]

Ex Wive's Club, Chapter 18

Word Count: 1.5k

Warnings: nothing major

It felt like no matter what he was doing, it wasn’t good enough.  Nothing ever would be.  Not when he was going up against his ex-wife.  Not when she not only was a Drysdale, but also had a boyfriend that was an Avenger on his side. 

Curtis felt like it was a hopeless battle. 

He was a shop teacher at an all girls prep school who barely made it by on his own.  He was raising a special needs daughter and learning what he could to make her life as complete and functionable as possible.  It felt like he was forever trying to balance the two things while walking the world’s biggest tight rope.  And no matter what, it felt like he’d always gotten it wrong. 

But he never gave up. 

And he never really noticed anything going differently…not until after the first week that Sasha had been in his house ended.

“Curtis…I-I should really find somewhere el-“

“Stay as long as you want, sweetheart,” he offered gently, wrapping his arms around her waist, “I’m not pushing you out…”

“I-I don’t belong here…I-I’m invading your space…and I’m not even divo-“

“You’re helping me just as much as I’m helping you, Sasha…” he said gently, turning her around so that she could see the perfectly contented toddler who had fallen asleep on her playmat, “you make sure Maritza is safe while I’m at work…you keep her engaged…she’s even been signing more and more active…that’s because of you.  You’re helping me and my daughter in so many ways.  Why would I ever push someone out of my life when they make me and my daughter happier…”

“I’m not a replacement for your ex-wife, Curtis,” she sighed, giving the gorgeous man a sad look.  She reached up and stroked his cheek, “I-I’m not her.”

“I don’t want you to be her, Sasha…trust me,” he grumbled sadly, leaning into her hand, “she’s not a good mother.”

She bit back her sadness, “You know, some would say that I-I’m not even a good mother to my own children.”

“Hey…don’t you dare say that.   You’re an amazing woman and mother,” he whispered.  He leaned down and kissed the juncture of her neck, “you’ve told me enough about them.  I know how you forged a relationship with your son after all that time without him.  You beat your postpartum with him and Ashley.  You recognized that something was wrong with Ashley medically and you took the steps to get her help when your husband didn’t want to believe it.  You were an advocate for your children, Sasha.  And you tried to better yourself too!  You came to group and tried to work on yourself…bad moms don’t do a quarter of what you did.”

“Well at the very least I’m a bad wife,” she sighed, turning in his arms so that she wasn’t facing him.  A few tears slipped from her eyes and she sniffled, shaking her head, “a good wife wouldn’t have ever put herself in the situation that I allowed myself to get in…and then to find out that I’m falling for you even before Andy and I get a divorce-“

He was quick to turn her back around so that she had to look at him, “Y-you’re falling for me?”

A blush rose onto Sasha’s cheeks, and she attempted to look away, but Curtis let go of her waist to cup her chin in one of his hands.  Her eyes met his, and a shiver ran down her spine as she nodded, sniffling a little bit more.  Curtis thumbed away her tears.

“How could I not?” she admitted breathlessly to him, “you’re such an amazing man…and you’re moving mountains to try to make your daughter’s life more comfortable…more accessible.  Curtis…how could anyone not be completely and utterly in love with you?  God, I felt like I was pushing my luck being here every day…because every day you come back into this cabin and Maritza sees you…her little feet padding towards you…it makes me want to start all over again…try to get Michael and Ashley…and just be with you in every sense of the word.”

“I’m terrified about Friday,” he said quickly, admitting to her his deepest feelings to the woman who had emotionally laid herself bare in front of him, “I-I feel like no matter what I do, I’ll lose Maritza.”

“You won’t,” she promised gently, “you won’t lose your daughter, Curtis.  You care about her so much more than your ex does…any judge would be blind to ignore that.”

“She’s a Drysdale…and she’s dating an Avenger honey…”

“Thor kicked her out…”

“No,” he chuckled, not believing the simple word, “they have fights like this all the time…he’ll kick her out for a few days then-“

“I talked to my dad…” she began, cutting him off, “Thor kicked her out for good…apparently he went to clear his head and he met someone…someone I know very well…”

“Wh-what?”

“Sam’s baby momma…Nia…she has a younger sister named Maya,” Sasha answered, caught up in her own story, knowing that it was giving Curtis hope, “I-I guess they hit it off…she won’t have an Avenger backing her…Curtis i-“

“She’ll still have her family’s money,” he muttered softly as he tried not to get ahead of himself, “she didn’t lose a single right when we had the incident where she almost drowned Maritza…they swept it all under the rug…baby, I appreciate what you’re trying to do…I do…but I just want to be here with you two tonight…no talking about you moving out.  No talking about the case tomorrow…I just want to hold my girls in my arms…”

“Okay Curtis…” she sighed, leaning up to place a chaste kiss on his lips, “just us for tonight…tomorrow doesn’t exist.  But when it does…we’ll be in your corner, cheering you on, big guy.”

“Curtis, it’ll be alright…”

Curtis bit his lip, looking at the doors.  Maritza eagerly pulled on her father’s flannel.  The man looked at his daughter and she signed ‘up.’

“Baby, not right now,” he signed as he mouthed the words, “later…”

Maritza turned to Sasha, a whimper escaping her lips as she held her arms up to her, signing the words ‘mommy’ and ‘up.’

“It’s okay Mari,” Sasha sighed, reaching down to pick the little girl up, “daddy is just nervous…but we still love him, right?”

Sasha didn’t know much in the way of sign language.  But she knew the signs for ‘up,’ ‘daddy,’ and ‘love.’  Three of Maritza’s favorite words.  The little girl giggled and signed ‘love’ and ‘daddy.’  

But Curtis was still stuck on the fact that Maritza signed ‘mommy’ to Sasha.  His heart ached at the fact that she was so quickly attached to the sweet woman who had fell into his life, but yet her own mother wanted nothing to do with her.

“I love you too, baby girl!” Curtis sighed, talking to his daughter.  He held his arms out and she happily went into them, “alright, daddy needs you to be good, okay?”

“Mr. Everett.”

Curtis frowned hearing the bailiff calling his name. 

“Here…”

“Your case is about to begin sir…if you’d like to follow me.  You and your significant other that is.”

“I-I can wait out here if you want,” she offered gently, giving Curtis an unsure look, “file in when the doors open.”

“Watch Maritza for me?”

“Y-yeah…of course…we’ll sit in the back.”

Curtis nodded, handing his daughter back off to Sasha.  He followed the bailiff into the courtroom and was surprised to see Lily already sitting at one of the desks. 

“I hope you didn’t get used to having her,” she taunted, shooting her ex husband a glare, “once my lawyers get here, you’ll be lucky if you get supervised visits”

“Lily, Maritza deser-“

“Maritza is mine,” she spat, “I was the one that wanted her in the first place.  You aren’t going to get to play happy little family with my daughter and some new whore.  You have nothing Curtis.  I hold all the cards.  Just you wai-“

“All rise for the honorable Judge Gallaway!” the bailiff started, cutting Lily off.  Curtis hadn’t noticed that in the time she was harassing him the court’s doors had been opened and while Sasha and Maritza had sat in the back there was one other person sitting in the back.

His brow furrowed as he noticed Linda Drysdale. 

But she wasn’t sitting on Lily’s side. 

Surprise washed over Lily’s face when she saw her family’s lawyers walking in and promptly taking a seat on Curtis’ side.

“What in the hell are you doing?” she growled, glaring at the team of three, “I’m Lily Drysdale.  I-“

“We have been instructed by Mrs. Drysdale to represent Mr. Everett in the case of his daughter,” the head counsel said firmly as he took a seat beside a shocked Curtis, “Mr. Everett, we’ll be out of here soon.  Don’t you worry.”

Curtis went to open his mouth, but his mind refused to cooperate with him.  He turned back to the back of the courtroom and was shocked to see a smug look on Linda’s face. 

‘Take care of our girl!’ she signed, before turning on her heels and walking out.

Chapter 19

Tag List:  @Cjand10, @huntress-artemiss, @lohnes16, @tenaciousperfectionunknown, @teambarnes72, @elbell20-blog, @sebsgirl71479, @prokey16

[goldheartedsky]

Idk if you're still doing the kiss prompt fills but Andy/Booker for 50?

50) ...out of love

"I'm sorry the house is a fucking mess," Booker mumbles, embarrassment flooding up his throat as Andy steps through the door. "I've been trying to get everything cleaned up, but, y'know..."

A grin tugs at her lips before she leans in and kisses him on the cheek, Booker all but melting under her touch. "You've got three kids under 5, Book. I'm not expecting your house to look like a museum," she says, punching his shoulder gently. "I'm just glad you finally stopped acting like a hermit."

"Yeah, I just—" He scrubs a hand over the back of his neck and swallows thickly. "It's just been a lot to deal with, Heloise being gone and all."

It's been a year since she walked out on him—on them all, really—and, while the initial blow of his wife's infidelity had cut him so deep that it's a miracle he's even in one piece, Booker is still reeling from the fact that Heloise could just walk away from the boys without looking back once. So, yeah, he's pulled away, drank too much, focused on the boys instead of his friends or even himself.

Who wouldn't?

But Andy seems to sense the shame creeping back into his body and chases it away in an instant, slinging her arm over his shoulder and tugging him toward the couch. "Come on, we've got a lot to catch up on."

They put some dumb old sitcom on the TV and chip away at the past six months of missed moments together, Booker laughing for the first time in way too long. It was like missing a limb, like living underwater for months on end, and Booker is finally able to breathe again.

At least, until Jean-Pierre wakes up—the baby monitor blaring red as the toddler starts crying.

"Fuck," Booker grumbles, looking at Andy apologetically. "It'll just be a minute. He probably dropped his—"

Andy rolls her eyes and shoves him up off the couch. "Book, it's fine, go take care of JP. I'm not going anywhere, okay?"

He freezes, words cutting straight into the tenderest parts of his heart, and wonders if Andy really knows what she said. She's here. She's not leaving him.

It takes a little bit to settle Jean-Pierre and, even though Andy had promised she'd be there when he got back, a little rush of surprise still runs through Booker when he sees her still on the couch when he comes back downstairs. But that surprise is immediately replaced by aching infatuation when he sees what she's doing on the couch.

Booker's legs feel numb as he makes his way down the last couple steps, watching Andy fold another one of Henri's little shirts. The basket of clean laundry he had abandoned a few days ago is at her feet and a pile of folded clothes sits beside her like it's the most normal thing in the world.

"What—What are you doing?" Booker croaks, throat suddenly so dry he's not sure how the words come out.

Andy's brow furrows as she looks up at him, a pair of JP's pajamas in hand. "Folding the boys' laundry?" she says, like he's stupid and, honestly, maybe Booker is. "I figured you could use the help and I'm here." The room spins and a soft smile tugs on Andy's lips as her head tilts. "What?"

He's not sure what happens but something comes over him. His mind shuts down and his heart takes over his body as he stumbles over to Andy, grabbing the pair of pajamas from her hands and tossing them to the side. She doesn't even have a chance to say a single word as Booker wraps one hand around the back of her neck and drags Andy into a devoted kiss. He kisses until they both run out of breath, until his head is spinning, until Andy kisses him back with just as much tenderness.

"What was that for?" she whispers, finally breaking the kiss to catch her breath. Andy's aquamarine eyes are wide and bright and Booker never wants to let her go. "It's just laundry..."

Booker shakes his head and pulls her into another kiss before murmuring, "It's so much more than that."

[whorekneecentral]

can u do one for hendo where you're his missus and the guys are teasing you guys for being in love after they win the premier league. I know it's not really smut but I really love the idea 💕

I don't get the chance to write hendo very often so of course im gonna write this one <333 I wasn't sure what direction you wanted this to go, so hopefully this is okay!

The pitch was covered in confetti; the players and their families scattered across the green turf, all of children running around with their fathers chasing them. You smiled as you walked down towards your husband.

You hadn't rushed down, you knew Jordan like the back of your hand; if you were there, he'd focus on you rather than the people who were trying to talk to him.

Plus, it's not everyday they win the premier league. He deserved his moment in the spot light.

You had stopped to talk to Rike, Virgil's wife. The two of you made plans to catch up one day, letting Virgil and Jordan take over as babysitters.

"I think someone is looking for you," Rike says, nodding towards Jordan who was looking around.

"Yeah, let me go to him before he wanders off." You laughed, giving her a quick hug.

You made your way over to Jordan, his back turned to you as he was speaking to Trent. The younger player sees you and you signal him to keep quiet as you put your hands over your husband's eyes. The moment he feels your hands, he turns around.

"Hi!" You grinned at the man, your arms over his shoulders as he leans down to pick you up. He gives you a good squeeze, swinging you side to side.

"God, I thought you left." He whispers.

"How could I?" You laughed when he put you down, your hand on his jaw as you looked at him. "How does it go again? Um.. oh, captain my captain," you giggled between the words. "I am so proud of you."

Jordan smiles, pulling you in a for a kiss but it turns more into a dip, his arm behind your back to hold you against him as he leans down with you. You two were like giggling teenagers in love, too wrapped up in each other to notice the cameras or the watching teammates. He leans into you, whispering something that was much too filthy to repeat with all these children around.

"Looks like we're getting Hendo jr in nine months, huh?" Virgil calls, his arm over Andy's shoulder who was laughing. "Might be twins if Hendo doesn't let go of the poor girl."

"It's like they forget I was right here," Trent fakes a gag, causing Jordan to throw him a glare.

"You three are trouble," you tell them, laughing as you wrapped your arms around your husband's torso.